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In the following sentences, four parts of each sentence are underlined. If you think any one of the underlined parts is incorrect, choose the letter under that part as your answer. If you think the sentence is correct as written, choose (E) as your answer. Please note: read together, all of the sentences in this section make up a story.
Hunter College High School became co-ed in 1974 as a result of a lawsuit by Hunter College Elementary School parents, a development which was described by the New York Daily News with the headline "Girlie High Gets 1st Freshboys". In January 1982, the school was featured in a New York Magazine article entitled "The Joyful Elite.” No error
The Correct Answer is E. There is no error.
The high school has occupied a number of buildings throughout it’s history, including one at the East 68th Street campus of the College (1940–1970). For several years in the 1970s, it was housed on the 13th and 14th floors of an office building at 466 Lexington Avenue (at East 46th Street). No error
The Correct Answer is D. Sentence should read its, not it’s
Since 1977, it has existed in a nearly windowless structure at East 94th Street between Park or Madison Avenues on the Upper East Side. No error
The Correct Answer is D. Whenever you see the word BETWEEN, always choose AND, not OR. Also, use the word BETWEEN when you compare two things exactly. When you compare three things or more, use AMONG.
Formerly, this was the site of the 94th Street Armory; Today, part of the armory's empty shell (including two abandoned towers) stretches for the entire block of Madison Avenue in front of the school. No error
The correct answer is C. After a semicolon (;), you need a lower case letter, not an upper case letter. RULE: A semicolon (;) is stronger than a comma (,) but it is weaker than a period (.). A semicolon (;) connects two similarly related ideas.
The greater part of the armory building has been demolished. Designed to resemble the previous structure, the school is known for its near absence of sunlight, poor ventilation, and low air quality. No error
The Correct Answer is E. There is no error here.
Because of its architectural peculiarities, Hunter is often called "The Brick Prison." Its "inmates" is housed in this building from grades K through 12, since it contains both the high school and Hunter College Elementary (collectively known as the Hunter College Campus Schools). No error
The Correct Answer is C. Inmates ARE housed because inmates ARE plural.
Admission to the high school is only granted in seven grade, and is a two-step procedure. Students from the five boroughs of New York City with strong scores on standardized tests are eligible to take the Hunter College High School Entrance Exam in the January of their sixth grade school year. Eligible students must first meet Hunter's standards in reading and mathematics proficiency on fifth grade standardized exams. No error
The Correct Answer is A. Seventh grade, not seven.
For example, in 2011, sixth grade students that wished to enter Hunter during the 2011–2012 school year must have achieved scores of at least 689 out of 770 on the reading test and 722 out of 780 on the math test, that is, scores in the 90th-and-above percentile of all test takers. No error
The Correct Answer is A. Sixth graders are PEOPLE and PEOPLE are always WHO not THAT.
The admissions test have thirty-five multiple-choice mathematics questions, sixty multiple-choice English questions, and an essay-writing portion. No error
The Correct Answer is A. ONE admissions test HAS; many admissions tests HAVE. RULE: One teacher teaches; many teachers teach. You can only have the “S” once.
Out of about 3,000 test-takers, about 175 is offered admission on the basis of the exam. This 6.6% admissions rate, not considering the many students denied the chance to take the exam because they did not meet the state exam requirements, makes Hunter one of the most selective high schools in the nation. No error
The Correct Answer is B. 175 ARE not IS. Plural is always ARE.
Approximately 50 students from Hunter College Elementary School also enter the 7th grade class each year annually. Beginning with incoming students in the 2010–2011 school year, elementary school students must make ‘satisfactory progress' by fifth grade in order to gain admission to the high school. No error
The Correct Answer is B. Here, you are being redundant. There is no need to have the word annually if you already have each year. The word annually means each year and therefore should be deleted from this sentence.
Prior to this, students at Hunter College Elementary School was guaranteed admission into the high school. No error
The Correct Answer is B. Students WERE guaranteed admission, not WAS.
In total, entering 7th grade class contain approximately 225 students. No error
The Correct Answer is B. One class CONTAINS, but many classes CONTAIN. RULE: one teacher TEACHES; many teachers TEACH
Most students, commonly known as "Hunterites," that enter the high school remain there through their senior year. No error
The Correct Answer is C. Students are people, and people are always WHO not THAT.
The Correct Answer is E. There is no grammatical error here.
The graduating class usually retain about 200 students. No error
The Correct Answer is C. The graduating class RETAINS not retain. Remember, one teacher TEACHES but many teachers TEACH. You can only have the “S” once.
The total enrollment from grades 7 through 12 are approximately 1,200 students. no error.
The correct answer is C. One enrollment IS; many enrollments ARE
Hunter is a open campus, allowing students to go outside during lunch and free periods.no error.
The Correct Answer is A. Hunter is AN OPEN campus, not A. Before a vowel, you must use the article AN not A.
It is with great sadness I blog about the Connecticut
elementary school shooting, murdering 28 people including 20 children.
I have had enough and I can’t imagine what these poor
parents must be going through.
GUN CONTROL GUN CONTROL GUN CONTROL GUN CONTROL GUN CONTROL GUN CONTROL
1. Every single child must carry a cell phone. I don’t care what the schools say; if my kid
can’t carry a cell phone or reach me in case of an emergency, I won’t let him
go to that school.
2. Every single school door should be LOCKED from
now on. Bullet-proof glass should be installed, and the NRA (national rifle
association) should PAY for it. I’ve had enough with lobbyists supporting gun
laws and the 2nd amendment right to bear arms. Enough is enough. 3. Teachers need to undergo emergency training. We
grew up with FIRE drills in elementary school, how about GUN drills? We are way
too comfortable at schools. How many
more shootings do we need until enough is enough.Columbine, Virginia Tech- now this?
4. We need to revisit the Constitution. All men are
NOT born Equal and crazy men should not carry guns. A massive background check
needs to be performed before issuing anyone a weapon. How did a 20 year old get
into school? How is that OK? How the H** did he get in with not ONE but TWO
guns? I mean how do you hide that? The guns were LEGALLY registered to the
mother. What? Why does she need 3 guns registered to her name.I’ve had it with guns & weapons in the wrong
hands. AN AVERAGE PERSON DOES NOT NEED AN ak-47. The 3 weapons Lanza used were legally purchased and registered.
5. Violence on TV needs to STOP. Look at the
shooting at the movie theater in Colorado. It MIMICKED a scene from a cartoon
depicting a movie theater shooting. Coincidence? I think Not. I bet this crazy
gunman saw something violent on TV and did some form of copycat.
6. We need stricter gun laws. I’m so sad, so
incredibly sad the poor kids who survived will be so traumatized over this.
7. We need to hold the people who SELL the guns
criminally liable for the acts of the guns and gunman. Yes you heard me. THE
GUY WHO SOLD THE GUN TO THE CRAZY PERSON should be held criminally liable. You
can’t just sell a gun to anyone. I can’t believe this is the SECOND time this year a crazy man enters a crowd and starts
shooting. Enough already.
8. You can't even send your kids to school safely? Where were the security guards? THEY should be armed. All school teachers should have guns now too... ugh anything to prevent this trauma... how many more times do we need to relive a VIRGINIA TECH or COLUMBINE to realize that too many dangerous weapons are in the wrong hands.
9. We need to register people with massive mental illness... we have Megan's law for pedophiles; we need to have a law requiring the state to register the mentally disturbed.
I can't even begin to imagine what these families must be going though now. Such an incredibly sad day in History.
6:40 p.m.: Conn. Gov. Dannel Malloy has ordered U.S. and Connecticut flags flown at half-staff in mourning for shooting victims until burial services. The Associated Press reports that Lanza drove to the school in his mother’s car. Police found three guns at the scene: a .223 caliber rifle, and Glock and Sig Sauer pistols. NBC News reports that a rifle used in the shooting and two pistols were legally purchased and registered to the gunman’s mother, Nancy Lanza. But in a public records search, TIME was unable to find any firearms or weapons permits under Nancy Lanza’s name. 6:10 p.m.: Authorities say that Ryan Lanza, 24, the brother of shooting suspect Adam Lanza, 20, is now not believed to have any involvement in the mass shooting on Friday, according to the Associated Press. He had earlier been questioned by police. 6:00 p.m.: “Evil visited this community today,” said Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy at a briefing Friday evening. “As you know there area a number of victims, teachers, beautiful beautiful children who had simply come to school to learn. Their days ended a different way than any of us can possibly imagine.” 5:45 p.m.: Earlier this afternoon, the CBS affiliate in New York City showed video of a man said to be Ryan Lanza being taken into police custody in Hoboken, N.J. Ryan Lanza, 24, is reportedly the brother of shooting suspect Adam Lanza. Ryan Lanza was raised in Newtown, Conn. but currently lives in Hoboken, N.J., according to public records obtained by TIME.
HUNTER COLLEGE HIGH
SCHOOL EXAM: HOW TO APPROACH THE ESSAY
Note: These are just
TIPS! Not a comprehensive understanding. You need to work on at least 2 dozen
practice essays hand-graded by Kweller Prep tutors prior to taking the Hunter College
High School Entrance Exam
Overall Comments:
Format – The essay should be 4-5
paragraphs long; should include: An introduction, 2/3 paragraphs, and a
conclusion. REMEMBER THIS ESSAY IS ABOUT YOU, use “I” instead of you.
Spatial Awareness – DO NOT cram words
closely together, DO NOT space out words too much, DO NOT write too little
(leaving many blank lines on the essay), DO NOT write too much (going past the
number of line numbers allotted for the essay). Both QUANTITY & QUALITY are
equally important for the essay.
Vocabulary – Use higher-level
vocabulary but only if the vocabulary word makes sense to use in the
context.Don’t just use a “big” word for
the sake of using a “big” word. You need to actually make sure the word fits
into the sentence. Only use higher-level vocabulary that you know the
definition of.SPELL THE WORDS
PROPERLY.Using vocabulary improperly or
awkwardly (not the right vocabulary word for the content of the essay) will
hurt your essay grade, not help it.
Contractions – Contractions are
shortening words such as cannot to can’t.DO NOT use them because they are too informal. Again stay away from “can’t”;
instead use cannot. I don't care that you learned them for months at school. Stop using them on your Hunter essays!
Sensory Details – Use
adjectives/adverbs to describe parts of your essay. The SHOW DON’T TELL method is key.You need to be descriptive in order to keep
the reader engaged, make the reader feel like they are in the essay,
experiencing its content rather then just reading it. Know at least 100
adjectives and be comfortable incorporating them into your essay. Hunter is a
HUMANITIES based school. The graders spend a lot of time grading the essay.
Figurative Language – Use similes,
metaphors, and idioms in your writing to make it jump out at the reader.There are 3,000 students taking the exam, and
3,000 essays that teachers may potentially be reading, so make yours stand out
from the competition.
Punctuation – DO NOT use exclamation
points or quotation marks. This is a
personal essay-- not a play or story, which means NO DIALOUGUE.Kids should especially stay away from drawing
any sort of hearts or designs or triple exclamation marks to prove a point
(!!!) Watch for semi-colons and commas.Commas are used to separate 2 related phrases that CANNOT stand-alone if
the comma was replaced with a period.Semi-colons are used to separate 2 related phrases that COULD
stand-alone if the semi-colon was replaced with a period.A semi colon (;) is stronger than a comma (,)
but weaker than a period.
Proof Read – You should be able to
reread your essay at least twice during the exam. Look out for awkward, unclear
sentences, grammar problems, structure and if or not you have followed the tips
given to you by Kweller Prep.
STRUCTURE:
Intro: This should take up 3-6
sentences
-Must
generalize the topic to a universal audience
-Must answer the essay prompt
question
-Must
NOT let the reader realize that they are reading an essay
-Must
address the supporting paragraph topics without listing them
Body Paragraphs: Each one should be
7-10 sentences
-Must
stay on one SUPPORTING topic; if you start another topic then create a new
paragraph
-Must
refer back to the essay prompt question
-Must
use the SHOW DON’T TELL method
-Use
figurative language
-Have
a clear flow of ideas; Transitions should be smooth from one paragraph to
another.Should have topic sentences and
a concluding sentence, summing up the paragraph while relating back to the
essay topic.DO NOT use traditional
transitions too much, i.e. for example, in conclusion, one reason is, another
reason…
-DO
NOT be repetitive
Conclusion:
-Must
summarize the introduction WITHOUT repeating the same sentences/phrases used in
the introduction
-Must
answer the essay prompt question again
-Must
NOT let the reader realize that this is an essay and that this is the end of it
without saying it outright, i.e. DO NOT use the phrase: in conclusion
-Concluding
sentence must clearly indicate that this is the end of the essay without saying
it outright, i.e. All in all Christmas is my favorite holiday and I cannot wait
for next Christmas to come quickly enough.
oLeave some “breathing room” for sections that
you know you will struggle with
oSave the most difficult questions for last
·There is no penalty for guessing so do your best
to eliminate answer choices and take an educated guess
·Be well-rested and confident when taking the
test
oBeing nervous, hungry or otherwise in a bad
state of mind will affect your performance more than you think
Essay
·Outline your ideas for the essay à make sure each
paragraph transitions to the next
oMay seem time-consuming but can end up saving
you time when you have a good grasp of what you need to write
oBe sure to include the structureà intro, 2 or 3 body
paragraphs, conclusion
·Use more advanced vocabulary and phrasing
oIf you read a lot-which you should-try to copy
some of the sentence structures of your favorite author
§You get better at writing by learning from
others and emulating their style
·Longer essays tend to score better but make sure
you have something interesting to say with every sentence
·Make it a story! à
every sentence, paragraph, and idea should flow and transition into another
·Make reader WANT to read more à a captivating
introduction-with some high level vocabulary-is especially important
oFirst impressions are crucial
Grammar
·Reading the sentence aloud-but quietly, you’re
in a test-can help you find mistakes
oDon’t rely on this completely! Know your grammar
rules.
·Tense agreement, noun-verb agreement, adverbs,
pronouns, proper nouns, etc.
·Don’t be afraid to choose “no error”! Have
confidence in yourself.
Reading
·Practice your reading speed and comprehension
through repetition and reading techniques
oGetting used to reading at a “testing speed” is
important à
it’s not necessarily important to know every detail-although it would be great
if you can-but enough to answer the questions
oTechniques such as reading the introductory and
conclusion paragraphs or learning the idea of a paragraph through its topic
sentence
·Grasp the author’s tone
oDoes he use a lot of words with a positive or
negative connotation when talking about something? Does he use a lot of extreme
words to show his emotions?
oAsk questions like these to better understand
the main idea of the passage and more easily answer questions
Math
·Know topics such as geometry, algebra,
probability, and coordinate system
·Learn efficient but organized “scrap paper
technique”
oThere’s plenty of space to do your work so use
it instead of solving problems in your head
§Helps you be less prone to making mistakes
oHowever, make sure your work is organized and
clear so you don’t confuse yourself with work from different problems
·Use the multiple choice to your advantage à you can save time by
plugging in the choices that seem most likely for algebraic equations and other
questions
o“Guess and check” except you know the right
answer is in front of you
Growing up in twenty-first
century America, one is brought up with the perception that they are living in a
time and place of unparalleled opportunity; that the world is at their
fingertips. The determination for reaching the top is one often instilled into
children at a young age, in tangent with the values of their society. Indeed,
the “American dream” is one in which success is the ultimate goal, and many
become the products of their upbringing and will settle for nothing less.
However, sometimes people get consumed in their drive for success, caught up in
their pursuit of a single goal until it becomes their lone reason for living,
only to find that success is not at all the equivalent of happiness. This theme
is one that has permeated throughout scores of great literature, particularly
within the novels “The Great Gatsby,” and “Brave New Word,” with both of these
works presenting the darker aspects of success.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The
Great Gatsby” tells the story of an affluent society during America’s Roaring
Twenties, a time characterized by its rampant consumerism and economic
prosperity. It was a period during which many were able to make quick fortunes,
one such man being Jay Gatsby – a member of the “newly rich” whose motivation
lies in his need to succeed. Outwardly, Gatsby’s purpose for amassing his riches
stems from his effort to impress and woo Daisy, the love of his youth, who is
also a member of the aristocratic “old rich.” However, as the novel progresses,
it becomes evident that the only thing attracting him to Daisy is the wealth and
affluence that she symbolizes, the world of grander and social success that she
represents. His infatuation with the world of material wealth leads him to be
blinded by the need for success, and it is this very success that corrupts his
life and ultimately leads to its end.
In Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New
World,” the protagonist, John the Savage, is driven by the achievement of a
single goal as well, although this time it is not for the purpose of material
wealth. Having grown up alienated from his community on the Reservation, John’s
life is characterized by an all-consuming desire to leave his world behind in
favor of the image of another, better world that his mother has drilled into
him. However, when he succeeds in this venture, he finds that this new world and
everything it stands for is utterly abhorrent to him, and the fact that the very
thing he spent his whole life aiming towards; abandoning the Reservation for a
glittering utopia, has brought him such misery upon his attainment of it,
crushes him and drives him to suicide.
The stories of Jay Gatsby and John the
Savage provide poignant illustrations of the dangers and drawbacks of success.
Although each character succeeds in the achievement of their goals, this success
fails to bring them the happiness or fulfillment that they expected. Instead, it
proves to be disastrous, leading to the untimely death of both protagonists, and
in the process, stressing the continuous relevance of the age-old saying: “Be
careful what you wish for.”
