Effective Language Use | The Complete SAT Course - Class 10 PDF Download

Effective Language Use

The terminology used by the College Board to break up this section is helpful and preferred by me.

Precision
Using words interchangeably as synonyms in different contexts can lead to unexpected and unintended meanings.

1a) As midnight approached, most of the campers retired to their tents.
1b) As midnight approached, most of the campers returned to their tents.
2a) Most of the people in the city who have retired settle down in the old person’s community down the road.
2b) Most of the people in the city who have returned settle down in the old person’s community down the road.

In the context of 1a and 1b, the words can be used interchangeably without affecting the meaning. However, in the context of 2a and 2b, the word "retired" takes on different meanings, creating confusion. This highlights the importance of understanding how context can influence the meaning of words. 

Consider the following example question from the SAT:

Dickens’ London was not the gleaming metropolis of today but a city in which the average living conditions were so gross that cholera epidemics were not uncommon.
Which choice best maintains the tone established in the passage?
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) negative
(c) squalid
(d immoral

Correct Answer is Option (c)
On some precision questions, you’ll also be asked to eliminate answer choices that are too vague (“negative”) or too informal (“gross”). D) Immoral is a specific word, but remember the retiring example above; it doesn’t quite fit the context, since you can have immoral people or practices, but you can’t have immoral living conditions. So C), squalid, is the best choice.

Concision

Avoid repeating the same information; in other words, don't be redundant by restating something that has already been mentioned. This is a common mistake that can be easily avoided by practicing concision, which means expressing the same idea using as few words as possible. While the concept of concision may seem vague, it is clear that the test is evaluating your ability to avoid redundancy. It's important to distinguish between questions that test concision/redundancy and those that test precision/word choice. Let's look at some examples:

• On a yearly basis, the company has been making over 100 million dollars annually.
• Johnny was not popular amongst his classmates because he was always spiteful and he showed malice at every turn.
• Presently, I don’t have the ability to help you at this moment because I’m too busy and need a break.

How would this actually look on the test, given that an underlined part, and not the whole sentence, is being tested?

Presently, I don’t have the ability to help you at this moment because I’m too busy and need a break.
(a) NO CHANGE
(b) currently
(c) really speaking
(d) “delete the underlined portion”

Here are the three words that are redundant in each of the examples above:
1) yearly = annually
2) “spiteful” means “showing malice”
3) presently = at this moment

To conclude the topic of concision, it's worth noting that sometimes a question won't solely focus on concision. Instead, the question will relate to another grammatical rule, but one of the answer choices might lack concision. In these cases, that particular answer choice is typically incorrect.