SHSAT: Passage-based revising and editing

A method you can use

1. Map the draft: name the purpose of each paragraph and mark how the writer moves between ideas. Read beyond the target sentence.
2. When placing a sentence, locate the idea or noun its pronouns depend on and the next sentence that develops it. A detail must fit both sides of its proposed position.
3. Choose transitions for the relationship, not for a word that sounds formal. For example, a failed first trial followed by a revised method calls for cause or response, not another unrelated example.
4. Check relevance and conclusions against the writer’s actual point. Reject a new fact that would require an unsupported assumption even when it concerns the same topic.

Before you answer

Read the directions first. Check whether the question wants one answer or several, and what your answer has to include.

Related section practice

31 practice questions cover this skill. Try a set below or use the question bank for more.