Why it matters on the HSPT
The Language section ends with items about whole paragraphs rather than single sentences. They ask which sentence should come first, which one wrecks the paragraph's focus, which order makes sense, and which connecting word fits. Students who read for sense do fine on these once they know the four or five shapes, and the shapes never change. These items reward reading the whole paragraph before answering anything.
The rules
Every paragraph has one topic. Say it in five words before you look at the choices. A paragraph about how bees find flowers is not about beekeeping, honey, or why bees sting, even though all of those are about bees.
The topic sentence states the paragraph's point and usually comes first. A good one is broad enough to cover every other sentence and narrow enough to exclude other topics. The wrong choices are usually a detail from the paragraph, which is too narrow, or a statement about the general subject, which is too broad.
The sentence that does not belong is off the topic. It is often true, interesting, and about the same general subject, which is what makes it tempting. Test each sentence against your five-word topic; the one that fails is the answer.
Sentence order. Look for time words such as first, then, after, and finally; for pronouns that need a noun before them; and for a sentence that introduces something another sentence refers back to. The first sentence usually names the subject in full; later ones use it or they. A sentence with a pronoun cannot come before the noun it stands for.
Where a new sentence goes. Read the sentence, find the sentence in the paragraph it responds to or continues, and place it right after. If it introduces the subject, it goes first. If it sums up, it goes last.
Transitions. Choose the word by the relationship between the two ideas. Addition: also, in addition, furthermore. Contrast: however, but, on the other hand, although. Cause and result: because, therefore, as a result, so. Example: for example, for instance. Order: first, next, then, finally. Choosing a contrast word between two ideas that agree is the standard trap.
Combining sentences. When asked for the best combination of two short sentences, the answer keeps every idea, drops the repeated words, and shows the relationship between the ideas. The dog was tired. The dog slept. Best: the dog was tired, so it slept. Wrong choices lose an idea, change the meaning, or make a splice.
Formal register. Composition items prefer standard written English. Contractions are acceptable, but slang, sentence fragments, and text-message shortcuts are not.
Worked examples
Example 1
Which sentence best begins this paragraph?
___ Oaks drop acorns that squirrels bury and forget, and the forgotten acorns sprout in spring. Pines release winged seeds that spin far from the parent tree. Maples do the same with their paired seeds.
A. Squirrels are important animals in the forest.
B. Trees have different ways of spreading their seeds.
C. Maple seeds are sometimes called helicopters.
D. Forests contain many kinds of trees.
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: B: B
Every sentence in the paragraph is about how a kind of tree spreads seeds, so the topic sentence must say that. Choice A is about one detail, choice C is a detail not even in the paragraph, and choice D is too broad, since the paragraph is not about forest variety in general.
Example 2
Which sentence does not belong in this paragraph?
1. The town pool opens the first weekend of June. 2. Lifeguards must pass a swim test each spring before they are hired. 3. The pool was built in 1962. 4. Morning lap swim starts at six, and open swim begins at noon.
A. Sentence 1
B. Sentence 2
C. Sentence 3
D. Sentence 4
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: C: C
The paragraph is about how the pool operates during the season: when it opens, who guards it, when it is open each day. The year it was built is history, not operation, so sentence 3 does not belong even though it is about the same pool.
Example 3
Which order of these sentences makes the best paragraph?
1. Then she rinses the bristles under warm water. 2. First, Mara wipes the excess paint onto a rag. 3. Finally, she lays the brush flat to dry. 4. After that, she works a drop of soap through the bristles.
A. 2, 1, 4, 3
B. 1, 2, 4, 3
C. 2, 4, 1, 3
D. 3, 2, 1, 4
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: A: A
The time words give the order: first, then, after that, finally. Sentence 2 begins with first and names Mara in full, so it goes first. Then comes sentence 1, after that sentence 4, and finally sentence 3. Choice C puts the soap before the rinse, which contradicts after that.
Example 4
Which word best fills the blank?
The recipe says to bake the bread for forty minutes. ___, our oven runs hot, so we take it out after thirty.
A. Therefore
B. However
C. For example
D. Similarly
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: B: B
The second sentence goes against the recipe, so the relationship is contrast, and however is the contrast word. Therefore would mean the oven runs hot because of the recipe, which makes no sense, and the other two suggest agreement.
Example 5
Which sentence best combines these two?
The museum was closed. We had driven two hours to see it.
A. The museum was closed, we had driven two hours to see it.
B. Although we had driven two hours to see it, the museum was closed.
C. The museum was closed and we had driven two hours and we wanted to see it.
D. We had driven two hours to see the museum.
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: B: B
Sentence B keeps both ideas and shows the relationship between them, the disappointment of a long drive for nothing. Sentence A is a comma splice, sentence C is a run-on chain, and sentence D drops the fact that the museum was closed.
Example 6
Where should this sentence go?
Sentence to place: They also learn to recognize the smell of smoke and gas.
1. Search-and-rescue dogs train for months before their first real job. 2. They practice finding people hidden under rubble. 3. By the end, a trained dog can locate a person the handler cannot see.
A. Before sentence 1
B. Between sentences 1 and 2
C. Between sentences 2 and 3
D. After sentence 3
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: C: C
The new sentence begins with they also, so it adds to a sentence about what the dogs learn, which is sentence 2. It cannot come before sentence 1, because they would have no noun to refer to, and it cannot follow the summing-up in sentence 3.
Example 7
Which sentence is best for a formal report?
A. The experiment was, like, a total fail because the water didn't get hot enough.
B. The experiment failed because the water did not reach the required temperature.
C. The experiment failing, water not hot enough.
D. Basically the experiment kind of failed cuz the water wasn't hot.
- A.A
- B.B
- C.C
- D.D
Show answer
Answer: B: B
Sentence B is a complete sentence in standard written English. Sentence A and D use slang and filler, and sentence C is a fragment.
Common mistakes
- Answering before reading the whole paragraph. The topic only becomes clear at the end.
- Choosing a true sentence as the topic sentence. It must cover all the others, not just be correct.
- Keeping a sentence because it is interesting. Off the topic is off the topic.
- Picking a contrast word out of habit. However is right only when the ideas disagree.
- Choosing the longest combination. The best one keeps the ideas and drops the repetition.
Practice
These shapes are the whole of the composition items. The sentence structure lesson covers the sentence-level errors that appear inside the wrong choices.