200 McGraw-Hill Education: SAT

Lesson 3: Trimming Sentences

The Law of Trimming Modifying Phrases

Modifying phrases, which include participial phrases
(Lesson 8), appositive phrases (Lesson 8), adjectival
Every sentence must convey a clear and coher-
phrases, and adverbial phrases, are typically separated
ent idea even after it has been “trimmed.”
from the main clause by commas or dashes.

Trimming means eliminating modifiers and As luck would have it, we were saved at the last minute.
modifying phrases from a sentence to see its We were saved—as luck would have it—at the last
core—the subject, verb, and any necessary minute.
verb complements of each clause. Once you’ve We were saved at the last minute, as luck would have it.
trimmed a sentence, it’s much easier to pinpoint
any problems in grammar, logic, or clarity. Nonessential Modifiers
Trimming involves three steps: Nonessential modifiers are adjectives or adverbs that
are not essential to conveying the central idea of the
1. Eliminate any nonessential prepositional clause.
phrases. I have a terrible headache.
2. Eliminate introductory, interrupting, or con- She ran quickly from the house.
cluding modifying phrases.
3. Eliminate any remaining nonessential mod- Essential Modifiers
ifiers like adjectives and adverbs.
One type of essential modifier is the predicate adjective,
which is tied to the subject by a linking verb. Predicate
adjectives should not be trimmed because they are
Prepositional Phrases essential to conveying the core idea of the clause.
A preposition is any word—such as up, to, around, from, The sky is blue.
into, by, on, for, of, as, or with—that can be used to com-
plete sentences like these: Prepositional phrases are also sometimes essential.
The squirrel ran the tree. The cake is in the oven.
Democracy is government the people.
I went to the party a brain surgeon.
Trimming sentences helps you to eliminate clut-
ter so you can better analyze the essential parts
A prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus
of the sentence.
the noun phrase that follows it, such as
…from sea to shining sea… Untrimmed sentence: In one experiment in
…in the beginning… which subjects per-
…for the money… formed a word asso-
ciation task, scientists
measured the activity
in the region of the
brain called the aSTG.

Scientists measured
Core: 
the activity.

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 CHAPTER 5 / THE SAT WRITING AND LANGUAGE TEST201

Exercise Set 1: Sentence Cores

1 6
The team of advisors, arriving slightly ahead of The anthology focuses on the works of modern
schedule, were met at the airport by the Deputy poets, but includes some older works as well.
Prime Minister.
A) NO CHANGE
A) NO CHANGE B) includes
B) were being C) but include
C) was D) include
D) being

2 7

Today, juggling the demands of family and work often The theory of quantum electrodynamics,
seem too difficult for many young professionals. although maddeningly counterintuitive, makes
astonishingly accurate predictions about the
A) NO CHANGE behavior of subatomic particles.
B) seems A) NO CHANGE
C) will seem B) making
D) would seem C) would make
D) make
3
The fact that even well-intentioned institutions can
so easily become dysfunctional have forced many 8
observers to become cynical about social change. Surprisingly absent from the game were the
A) NO CHANGE crowds traditional routine of taunting the
opposing players.
B) would force
A) NO CHANGE
C) has forced
B) was the crowds
D) are forcing
C) were the crowd’s

4 D) was the crowd’s

The Immigrant Defense Project, based in New York

City, provide expert legal advice and advocacy for
9
immigrants and their loved ones.
An education at an inexpensive public
A) NO CHANGE
university can be as good, if not better, than
B) have provided an elite private college.
C) provides A) NO CHANGE
D) have been providing B) as good as, if not better than, one at
C) as good as, if not better than,
5 D) as good, if not better, than one at
The intensity of these workouts, which include both
agility circuits and weight training, are a problem
for many who are not already in good shape.
A) NO CHANGE
B) are problems
C) are problematic
D) is a problem

CH05.indd 201 05-04-2019 17:32:41