Practice Quiz

SAT Writing

Category - Improving Sentences

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Choose the answer which best rewords the italicized portion. If you think the original wording is best, choose option A.

They hoped that to cause the South Vietnamese to lose faith in their government and to deal a blow to United States forces.
  1. They hoped that to cause the South Vietnamese to lose faith in their government and to deal a blow to United States forces.
  2. They hoped that causing the South Vietnamese to lose faith in their government, and to deal a blow to United States forces.
  3. They wanted the South Vietnamese to lose faith in their government and to deal a blow to United States forces.
  4. They hoped the South Vietnamese would lose faith in their government and wanted to deal a blow to United States forces.
Explanation
Answer: D - The best choice is “They hoped the South Vietnamese would lose faith in their government and wanted to deal a blow to United States forces.”

The initial sentence has three infinitive phrases - “to cause,” “to lose,” and “to deal.” Too many infinitive phrases cause wordy sentences that affect clarity and flow. Modifying the sentence so that it has only one infinitive phrase helps to convey the intended meaning.
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