For each question, choose the alternative you consider best and fill in the corresponding oval on your answer document. Read the passage through once before you begin to answer the questions that accompany it. For many of the questions, you must read several sentences beyond the question to determine the answer. Be sure that you have read far enough ahead each time you choose an alternative.
Fanny Pack
Although the name—fanny pack—did not
actually functional. Pocketless shorts have always
posed a problem for those who jog or bike. No
a dollar bill or an identification card was the reason
The fanny pack provided an easy solution
for the shortcomings of shorts without pockets,
compartments could hold all manner of things: keys,
sweatbands, and candy bars. If too much exercise
left me thirsty, I could reach into the special pocket
for my wallet and buy something cold and refreshing.
No question about it—the fanny pack was the
total solution!
a little ingenuity I might be able to pack enough into
the thing for some really long trips. The fanny
What I hadn't counted on, however, was the
F. dramatic.G. unreasonable.H. fantastic.J. straightforward.
laid everything out on the kitchen table, I realized I
couldn't fit everything I needed into the pack.
Granted, I found room for my house keys and wallet,
but every time I tried to stuff a large bag of chips
was a bag filled with millions of minuscule potato
A. exaggeration working on behalf of humor.B. understatement acting to restrict the essay's dramatic impact.C. accuracy intended to mask the writer's disgust with fanny packs.D. nonsense working to further the writer's strongly impassioned prose style.
levels by racing around the countryside with my
other uses for my investment, however. It turns out
to be the perfect place to store my remote control
and TV Guide.
1. The best answer is C, which smoothly and logically connects the subordinate clause of the sentence ("Although the name—fanny pack—did not appeal to me,") to the main clause of the sentence ("the product itself did"). The other choices create both faulty sentence structure and flawed logic. Choice A is a sentence fragment because the preposition as turns the main clause into a prepositional phrase, and Choice A is illogical because it does not contain a complete thought. The word though in Choice B relates the clauses awkwardly and illogically, and it creates another sentence fragment, because both Although and though are subordinating conjunctions. Choice D, where the word like is used as a subordinating conjunction, has the same sentence-structure flaws as Choice B, and like is confusing because the writer is expressing a contrast, not a similarity.
2. The best answer is J, whose punctuation establishes a clear and logical relationship among the elements of the sentence. The punctuation in J follows basic rules of grammar and logic by using commas to separate a parenthetical element—in this case, the adverbial phrase "best of all"—from other parts of the sentence in which it occurs. All the other choices violate the standard approach to using commas to indicate the parenthetical nature of this information. Choice F, by placing a semicolon after all, creates, instead of one complete sentence, two sentence fragments on either side of the semicolon. Choice G places a comma in what should be the uninterrupted adverbial phrase "best of all" and is therefore wrong. Choice H commits the same error as Choice G by placing the comma in a different location in that same adverbial phrase.
3. The best answer is A, which provides the only content that fits logically into the sentence, paragraph, and essay as a whole. In an essay that is clearly tracing the narrator's experience of hesitating then proceeding with the acquisition of a fanny pack, the sentence in which this question occurs serves to establish a sense of how the narrator would benefit from having a fanny pack, namely that not having one deprived the narrator of conveniences (or even necessities) that would make explorations of the outdoor world possible for someone who instead has been occupying a "spot by the television set." Given how fanny packs are described elsewhere in the essay (as having, for instance, "compartments [that] could hold all manner of things: keys, sweatbands, and candy bars"), it is not only safe but logical to assume that the narrator's comments about not having a fanny pack would deal with what it means to be without items of this sort while on an outing. The other choices are wrong because they conjure up images whose absurdity does not conform to the style of the essay. Choice A results in a sentence that supports the ideas about fanny packs and the narrator's lifestyle as explained elsewhere in the essay. Choice B results in a sentence that conjures up an image that is nonsensical, even absurd, in this context—that of "being caught for as little as a dollar bill." Nothing in the essay supports such a suggestion. Similarly, Choice C conjures up an image that seems strange in a way that is not supported by the tone or content of the rest of the essay. Who, after all, worries about "being caught like a dollar bill or an identification card"? It is more common to worry about being caught without these things (an idea that Choice A plays into). Choice D simply makes no sense, as it suggests the narrator is a dollar bill or an identification card. Such absurd notions may be suggested in writing, but this essay does not deal in that type of absurdity.
4. The best answer is H, which results in the only sentence, of the choices, that makes sense in the context of the essay. In the next sentence in the essay, the idea that the narrator has been spending lots of time by the television is established: "The fanny pack . . . would allow me to break free from the TV to explore the outdoor world." So, it is appropriate to assume that, in the sentence in which this question occurs, the spot by the television set is being kept warm by the narrator. In the narrator's voice, it would have to be my spot. Choice H is the only one that refers to the spot this way. The other choices are wrong because they introduce some form of the pronoun it, which has no logical referent, and/or because they illogically shift the tense of the narrative. Choice F illogically shifts the tense of the sentence from past to present and also proposes its, which has no logical referent. The fanny pack's spot by the TV? No. The dollar bill's spot by the TV? No. The identification card's spot by the TV? No. The fear's spot by the TV? No. Likewise, Choice G is wrong on the grounds that the pronoun it forces the reader to imagine the absurd notion that the fanny pack was keeping a spot by the TV warm. Choice J is clearly wrong, again because it can have no logical referent here.
5. The best answer is D, which provides a coordinating conjunction (and) that establishes a logical relationship between the ideas expressed in the two clauses within the sentence in which the question occurs. Basically, the narrator is mentioning two merits of the fanny pack, neither of which is at odds with the other or superior to the other, so and fits logically between the two mentioned characteristics of the pack. Each of the other choices sets up a flawed relationship between the ideas expressed in the clauses. Choice A provides a conjunction (though) that indicates that the idea expressed in the second clause is in some way in opposition to the idea expressed in the first, that is, that a merit of the fanny pack is offset by a shortcoming of the fanny pack. The essay does not support this relationship. Choices B and C each establish a faulty notion that the one merit of the fanny pack is subordinate to the other. There is nothing in the essay to suggest this is true.
6. The best answer is J, which employs punctuation and forms of words that accurately reflect the objects inherent to the story. As the preceding sentence establishes, only one fanny pack is being described, so in the absence of any suggestion that the discussion has now expanded to include more than one fanny pack, the correct choice has to contain the singular form of fanny pack, which Choice J does. Choice J is also correct because it establishes, through the singular possessive form (pack's), that the compartments belong to the pack; that is, they are integral to the pack. The other choices are wrong because they illogically shift the discussion from the subject of one pack to many packs, or because they create a highly improbable image. Choices F and H are wrong because they employ the plural form of fanny pack. Choice G is wrong because it proposes a singular possessive ending ('s) for the plural form of the word zippers.
7. The best answer is C, which puts the verb in a tense that maintains the coherence of the essay. The other choices are wrong because they result in a sentence fragment or because they create an illogical shift in the chronology of events described in the narrative. Choices A and B are wrong because they each result in a sentence fragment. Choice D is wrong because it throws off the logic of the essay by putting the narrator's act of imagining into the future when it belongs in the past. The essay is characterized by the narrator's reflections on the various stages of his or her interest in and use of a fanny pack. Imagining that it would transform him or her into someone who was "as sleek and dashing as the fanny pack" is just one more in a series of acts (mental and physical) that took place along the way, not in the future. Therefore, the phrase "I began to imagine" is the only choice of the four that works.
8. The best answer is F, which continues the line of thinking started in the preceding sentence in a way that is sound in terms of content and grammatical structure. The other choices are wrong because they are wordy and/or create an inconsistency in point of view and/or because they provide information that contradicts what is suggested elsewhere in the essay. Choice G is wordy, redundant, and grammatically flawed; the relative pronoun that is followed by a comma instead of being connected without interruption to the subordinate clause it introduces. While Choice H results in a grammatically sound sentence, it proposes a shift in narrative voice from first person (I) to third person (He) that is not logical or appropriate. Choice J results in a sentence whose content contradicts the statement in the preceding sentence, and not in a way that might be defensible. Also, Choice J is flawed in that it sets up a faulty subordination in the sentence.
9. The best answer is A, which continues the established line of thinking in a way that is sound in terms of content and grammatical structure. The other choices are wrong because they establish something as fact that is described elsewhere in the essay as fantasy, or because they result in a sentence fragment. Choice B is wrong because the phrase "had since enabled me" suggests that having the pack did in fact result in changes in the narrator's physical well-being, when the context clearly indicates that these are changes he or she was imagining might happen. Choices C and D are wrong in that each one results in a sentence fragment.
10. The best answer is J, because the word straightforward accurately describes the tone and function of the proposed replacement phrase "better health," especially when compared to the actual, more elaborate diction of the essay, for which it is a proposed substitute. None of the other choices can be reasonably defended because in each case they offer a description that is true of the original text and not of the proposed substitution. Choice F is wrong because the length and relatively complex terminology of "previously unimagined level of personal fitness" add up to a phrase that is more dramatic than the phrase "better health." Choice G is wrong because, if anything, the extravagant fantasy of the original text is more unreasonable than the more modest and vague claim of "better health." Choice H is wrong because it also offers a description that fits the original text much better than it fits the proposed text.
11. The best answer is B, which provides the wording that clearly describes the problem the narrator faced when trying to make use of the newly acquired fanny pack. The reader has only to continue on to the next sentence to realize that the difficulty is one of fitting the narrator's large amount of possessions into a fanny pack too small to accommodate them easily: "I realized I couldn't fit everything I needed into the pack." Choice B provides the language that introduces the problem clearly. All the other choices are wrong because through sloppy wording they result in nonsense. Choice A makes no sense. It makes the mistake of posing relations as the obstacle to fitting the possessions in the pack, when it is clearly size that is the issue. Choice C is wrong because it makes no reference whatsoever to the actual problem, the size of the pack. Instead, it proposes that the problem is one of the narrator's relationship with his or her belongings. While on some level this may be true, it is certainly not the best answer because it gets at the idea of size indirectly at best and, therefore, makes a weaker lead-in to the following sentence. Also, Choice C does not qualify the relationship. (Whose relationship?) Choice D makes little if any sense at all. What does "relatively sizing" mean? The closest it could come to functioning grammatically in the sentence would be as a gerund (noun), and if that were the case, then any modifier applied to it would have to be an adjective, not an adverb such as relatively.
12. The best answer is H, which provides the subject (for the predicate was) needed to create an independent clause and, thus, a complete sentence. All the other choices are wrong because they fail to complete the sentence with the required subject, resulting in sentence fragments. Choice F is wrong because it provides a participle (resulting)—in other words, an adjective—instead of the noun needed to serve as the subject of was. The outcome of Choice F is an incomplete sentence. Choice G commits the same error of failing to provide a subject for the predicate, in this case providing a prepositional phrase instead. Choice J is wrong for the same reason that Choice F is.
13. The best answer is A, which offers a description of the word choice that most closely fits the nature of the essay in general and the preceding sentence in particular. The narrator clearly is prone to exaggeration throughout the essay: "I myself might become as sleek and dashing as the fanny pack" and "it would allow me to break free from the TV to explore the outdoor world" are examples of this tendency to overstate the possible ramifications of using something as humble as a fanny pack. Also, it is easy to imagine that the intended effect of the exaggeration is humor, as the narrator makes no serious references to ill health or an inability to deal with the outside world. So, millions and minuscule simply extend what the narrator has established as his or her tendency to exaggerate for purposes of humor. It is impossible to defend millions or minuscule as terms of understatement when they are applied to "potato chip fragments," so Choice B is wrong. It is all but impossible to defend these same terms as being used for accuracy's sake (Choice C) in an essay that overflows with examples of inaccuracy in the service of humor. Choice D might work because there is something "impassioned" about the writer's style, and there is something nonsensical about such high numbers in this context, but Choice D doesn't mention that the terms are used for purposes of humor and, therefore, fails to touch on a fundamental element of the essay.
14. The best answer is J, which provides a transitional word at the opening of the sentence, a word that brings the sentence into a logical relationship with all that precedes it. The adverb So refers to the elaborate explanation of how the fanny pack failed to meet the narrator's expectations and, therefore, fits at the opening of the sentence announcing the collapse of the "dream" under whose spell the narrator had fallen. The other choices are wrong because they set up a flawed relationship between the notion expressed in the sentence and the rest of the essay or because they result in a sentence fragment. Choice F is wrong because it results in a dependent clause and not a complete sentence. Choice G suggests that the many setbacks described up until this point are in opposition to the death of the narrator's dream, whereas the setbacks actually led to the "sad death." Choice H is wrong for the same reason Choice G is; the adverb Yet also suggests that the death is in spite of—and not because of—the setbacks or shortcomings described in the essay up to this point.
15. The best answer is A, which clearly expresses the idea that the death of the writer's dream was a sad one. The other choices are poor in style and in sentence structure. In Choice B, "was dead a sad death" is both redundant and clumsy. Choice C confusingly says that the dream "expired as a death." Choice D is a sentence fragment, because using the present participle dying, instead of died, deprives the sentence of a predicate.
