【官方】SAT语法每日一题附答案和解析(2018年1月23日)

【官方】SAT语法每日一题附答案和解析(2018年1月23日)

每日一题

One of the primary shortcomings of the Homestead Act of 1862, a program
through which the federal government offered free plots of land to US citizens
willing to establish farms in the American West, was that the plots were too
small to sustain a farm. Plots in the Great Plains were best left half
unplanted each growing season to conserve water. The Great Plains region
received twenty or fewer inches of rain per year and was considered semiarid. With farms consisting of a mere 160 acres, however, this practice would not have
produced sufficient harvests. Moreover, raising cattle was impossible because
the tiny homesteads would quickly become overgrazed. According to geologist and
explorer John Wesley Powell, sustainable homesteads on the Great Plains actually
needed to be a staggering 2,560 acres.

Think about the logical relationship between the two underlined
sentences.

Select an Answer

Which choice most effectively combines the underlined sentences?

Answer

A

Receiving twenty or fewer inches of rain per year, land in the Great Plains
was best left half unplanted each growing season; the reason for this was to
conserve water in this semiarid region.

Answer

B

To conserve water, land in the semiarid Great Plains region was best left
half unplanted each growing season; consequently, this region received twenty or
fewer inches of rain per year.

Answer

C

Land in the Great Plains region, being semiarid, was best left half
unplanted each growing season to conserve water, and it received twenty or fewer
inches of rain per year.

Answer

D

Land in the semiarid Great Plains region received twenty or fewer inches of
rain per year, so plots there were best left half unplanted each growing season
to conserve water.

答案及解析：

A EXPLANATION

Choice A is incorrect because, although it does generally capture the
cause-effect relationship between the two sentences, it results in an awkward
and wordy construction.

B EXPLANATION

Choice B is incorrect because it results in an illogical combination of the
two sentences. It doesn’t make sense to indicate that the practice of leaving
land unplanted was the cause of the region’s limited annual rainfall.

C EXPLANATION

Choice C is incorrect because it results in a weak logical relationship
between the two sentences. The coordinating conjunction “and” joins the
sentences as though one is an addition to the other; in fact, there’s a
cause-effect relationship between them.

Correct

Answer

D EXPLANATION

Choice D is the best answer because it most effectively combines the
sentences in a logical and efficient way. The coordinating conjunction “so”
indicates the cause-effect relationship between the sentences.