Comparison

Improving Sentences

Part of the following sentence is underlined; beneath the sentence are five ways of phrasing the underlined material. Select the option that produces the best sentence. If you think the original phrasing produces a better sentence than any of the alternatives, select choice A.

Remember to read and make a prediction before looking at the answer choices. Then, matching your prediction to the choices will be faster and easier.

According to the study, personality traits may vary as much from one dog to another as from one person to another.

The underlined word "as" can function as a preposition or as a coordinating conjunction--a conjunction that, like "and," compares items of equal importance. "As" is most often used to create a comparison. Here it compares the personality variations among dogs to those among people, and does not appear to violate any rules of grammar. Now look at the answer choices.


A) as

B) as it is

C) as when they are

D) than

E) than they do

Eliminate B, C, and E because they each end with a verb, and no verb is needed here. Eliminate D as well because "than" is used to compare unequal items. Then answer is A.


On sat.collegeboard.org, 54% of responses were correct.


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