Source: http://www.abacus-es.com/sat/sample_chapter.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 17:47:35+00:00

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Papa bear's sonorous snore ceased suddenly as he awoke to find a pugnacious owl tugging at his ear.
"Flangia," he remonstrated. "What's the matter with you?"
"Your puerile progeny has again embarked on sculpting in the yard, this time it is not just grotesque, it is highly redolent."
Upon rising, Papa Bear could not but sense the fetid miasma of something superbly putrescent wafting in the window, the which he shut with inspired alacrity. Still struggling with vestigial somnolence, he uttered a sardonic "Isn't the air fragrant this morning?"
Flangia retorted "Not a time for banter! It's wilting my geraniums."
Though doubtless hyperbole, Papa Bear did not attempt to refute the claim, preferring to respond with a sagacious "In adversity there is ever a salutary gem of redemption if one can find it."
"Oh, spare me the platitudinous persiflage. Requisite measures must be taken!"
Though by habit highly indulgent, when faced with the sight of the festering edifice, Papa Bear rubbed his nose in that special way which any who knew him would recognize as a portent of drastic action. They were joined by Mama Bear, an electric elk named Simon, and sundry squamulose distant relations, all cognizant of the poignant gesticulation and its significance.
Constructed from owl castings, all manner of ordure, coprolite, and desiccated scatological residue, the giant object of universal repudiation had already taken on an unmistakable likeness of Papa Bear himself.
He couched the reproof as an aversion to statuary in general, disregarding both subject matter and material used as irrelevant, though he did decry the transient nature of nontraditional media and the choice of medium for the subject.
alacrity adj. Speed; enthusiasm, readiness, promptness, rapidity.
aversion [to] n. Dislike for; loathing [of], distaste [for], hatred [of]. Averse adj.
banter n./v. Repartee, wit, chitchat, mockery, teasing, persiflage.
couch [as] v. Formulate an utterance; express, phrase, imply.
decry v. Condemn, criticize, disparage, belittle, deprecate, vilipend.
desiccate v. Dry, dehydrate, parch. Desiccated adj.
fetid adj. Unpleasant smelling; foul, putrid, rank, fusty.
harbinger [of] n. One who or that which foreruns and announces the coming of any person or thing; portent, omen, foretokening, augury, herald.
hyperbole n. Extreme exaggeration. Overstatement.
indulgent adj. Tolerant, non-judgmental, understanding, lenient. Indulgence n. Indulge v.
owl castings n. Indigestible remnants of an animal devoured whole by an owl and later regurgitated.
persiflage n. Light or frivolous chatter. Banter.
platitude n. A written or spoken statement that is flat, dull, or commonplace; cliché, banality, insipidity. Platitudinous adj.
poignant adj. Severely painful or acute to the spirit; moving, emotional, touching, affecting. Poignancy n.
portent [of] n. Anything that indicates what is to happen; augury, foretokening, omen. Portend v.
progeny n. Children, offspring, descendents.
puerile adj. Childish, juvenile, immature, callow.
pugnacious adj. Quarrelsome, confrontational, belligerent, truculent, contentious. Pugnacity n.
putrescent adj. Undergoing decomposition of animal or vegetable matter accompanied by fetid odors; rotting, decomposing. Putrescence n. Putrefy v.
redolent adj. having a strong odor; aromatic, fragrant, malodorous, stinking. Redolence n.
refute v. To prove to be wrong. Disprove, controvert, contest, deny, counter. Refutation n.
remonstrate v. protest, object, reprove, complain. Remonstrance n. Remonstration n. Remonstrative adj.
repudiate v. To refuse to have anything to do with; reject, disclaim, renounce. Repudiation n.
requisite adj. Necessary, obligatory, mandatory, essential.
residue n. Remains, dregs, remainder. Residual adj.
sagacious adj. Able to discern and distinguish with wise perception; wise, sage, perceptive, erudite. Sagacity n.
salutary adj. Health inducing; beneficial, helpful, salubrious, constructive.
sardonic adj. Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic; scornful, mocking, derisive, satirical.
scatology n. The scientific study of feces. The chemical analysis of excrement (for medical diagnosis or for paleontological purposes). Scatological adj. Of or relating to excrement or its study.
somnolence n. Sleep, sleepiness, drowsiness. Somnolent adj.
sonorous adj. Resounding, resonant, booming, echoing, reverberating.
transient adj. Of limited duration; fleeting, brief, temporary, momentary, ephemeral.
vestigial adj. Of or relating to a remaining or lingering trace of something previously present. Residual, lingering, enduring, remaining. Vestige n.
A. An elk. B. an owl C. scaly D. an artist.
A. wide awake B. bored with sculpture C. angry with Baby Bear. D. awakened by an owl.
A. smelled like geraniums B. was in the front yard C. bothered an owl D. was sculpted in granite.
5. ____________ was normally indulgent.
A. looked like papa bear B. wilted geraniums C. was a portent of drastic action D. was highly appreciated.
A. portended drastic action B. was hyperbole C. was redolent D. made Papa Bear close the window.
A subject and its verb must agree in number.
Your ear can usually tell whether they agree: He is (not he are), they were (not they was). Most native speakers of English have a fairly good feel for subject/verb matching under normal circumstances and simply need to learn how to recognize unusual sentence constructs in order to apply their intuitive language sense. As usual, English has some unexpected singular/plural traps for the unwary though.
Neither of them was aware of the impending flood of mayonnaise.
Neither the ox nor the wildebeest was found to look particularly decorative in the store window.
However, when one of the elements connected together with either is plural, the construct becomes plural IF it is the element closest to the verb.
Neither the purple bottles nor the turnip was quite the right shade of mauvy puce.
Neither the turnip nor the purple bottles were quite the right shade of mauvy puce.
The number of amateur astronauts is fairly small.
A number of amateur astronauts were milling about and waving spoons.
Subject/verb agreement can also become tricky in more complex sentences and when the subject and verb are separated by extraneous material.
Rowland and Boadicea, when applying to the Clockwork Submarine Fanciers' Amateur Operatic Society, was invisible behind the giant mushroom.
Always start by identifying the subject and verb. Then bring them together and use your ear to determine if they sound right.
In this case, the subject is Rowland and Boadicea and the verb is was. It should be Rowland and Boadicea were because "Rowland and Boadicea" is a plural subject and must take the plural verb form were.
In the following examples, practice identifying subject and verb. Use them together to see if they match, and check your answers.
1. The brown leaches, the only really appetizing item on the menu, was hardly a substitute for bungee jumping in renaissance costume outside the embassy.
2. Rowland and Boadicea, of the gypsy violinists' existential reading circle, was visibly distressed at the state of the herring tarts.
3. Neither Rowland nor Boadicea, when applying to the Clockwork Submarine Fanciers' Amateur Operatic Society, were visible behind the giant mushroom.
4. Quilp Springle, author of the monograph, Romance Languages as a Primary Cause of Dental Deformities, were unavailable for comment.
5. Neither the dwarf on his tricycle nor the accountants with their wheelbarrow was able to overtake the heavily laden swallow.
6. Neither of the flamingoes show any sign of plotting sedition.
7. The number of mistakes he made were limited only by his typing speed.
8. A number of variations on the painting, The Muses Contemplating an Egg Whisk, was up for auction as was a wealth of marginally bizarre and somewhat dangerous looking kitchen utensils.
3. Note that when either or neither links multiple subjects, the one closest to the verb is the one that determines how the verb is conjugated. In this case, Boadicea is singular and thus the verb should match a singular subject.
5. Again, when multiple subjects are linked with neither the one closest to the verb is the one that counts. In this case, accountants is plural and the verb must match: the accountants were.
6. In this case, neither itself is the subject. of the flamingoes is simply a modifier. The word neither on its own is singular.
7. The word number is an interesting case. The number is singular, yet a number is plural.
8. Again, the word number is an interesting case. The number is singular, yet a number is plural.
Upon rising, Papa Bear could not but sense the fetid miasma of something superbly putrescent wafting in the window, the which he shut with inspired alacrity.
Rewrite Baby Bear and the Yard Sculpture in other words using the synonyms in the glossary for ideas.
1. Explain why Flangia was upset and what she did.
2. Describe Papa Bear's reaction to the festering edifice.
3. Explain what Baby Bear was trying to do.
4. Describe a parental prohibition that upset you.
15189 Excerpted with permission from SAT Practice: The New Verbal Section.

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