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Revising/Editing — Passage-BasedFree
Improving the concluding sentence — SHSAT practice questions
Improving the concluding sentence on the SHSAT Revising/Editing passage-based section asks students to choose the revision that most effectively closes a paragraph or the full passage. After reading a numbered student draft, the test taker must pick a replacement that wraps up ideas already developed, often by showing how a solution addresses the problem the writer raised, rather than adding a new claim, repeating a minor detail, or drifting off topic. Questions usually ask which revision would best conclude a paragraph or which sentence should replace a numbered ending line. Answer choices are complete sentences; traps include endings that miss that problem-and-solution emphasis, restating a fact, or introducing unprepared information.
Section: Revising/Editing — Passage-Based 5 questions on the paper
139 practice questions in the app
Sample questions
Helping Fish Cross Human-Made Barriers
(1) Each spring, some stream-dwelling fish leave deep winter pools and swim toward shallow gravel beds where the water contains enough oxygen for their eggs. (2) Their route may appear open, yet a road crossing can create an obstacle even when water continues flowing beneath it. (3) A culvert set too high above the downstream channel produces a small waterfall, while a narrow culvert may accelerate the current beyond a fish's swimming ability. (4) When either problem occurs, the fish are basically stuck on the wrong side of the road. (5) Engineers and biologists therefore construct fish passages, channels designed to help aquatic animals move around barriers without removing the roads or dams that caused them. (6) One common passage, called a pool-and-weir system, resembles a staircase filled with water.
(7) Low walls divide a sloping channel into a sequence of pools, and a notch in each wall lets water spill into the next pool. (8) Because each short rise requires less effort than one large leap, the structure divides a difficult journey into manageable stages. (9) This design is one of several structures found near roads. (10) A nature-like bypass channel provides another option where enough land is available beside a barrier.
(11) Instead of climbing a concrete staircase, fish follow a winding side stream lined with stones, logs, and native plants. (12) The gradual route reduces the effort required for fish to move around the barrier. (13) Its gradual slope reduces water speed, and its varied depths provide resting places for species with different swimming abilities. (14) A fish swims through one notch, rests in the quieter pool above it, and then continues through the following notch. (15) Sensors near the entrance and exit can record how many fish use the channel, allowing researchers to determine whether the passage is functioning as intended. (16) Engineers must match a passage to the conditions at a particular site rather than assuming that any design will serve every species.
(17) They must study seasonal water levels, the swimming abilities of local fish, and the location of the routes those fish naturally attempt to follow. (18) After construction, debris must be cleared and water flow must be monitored, since a blocked notch or dry pool can recreate the original barrier. (19) Fish passages can help migrating fish when people build them correctly.
Question 1
Which revision of sentence 9 would best conclude the second paragraph (sentences 6–9) by emphasizing how the pool-and-weir design addresses the problem described in the passage?
ABy creating a series of short climbs and resting places, the pool-and-weir system allows fish to cross a steep barrier in stages.
BBecause all fish can leap through its notches, the pool-and-weir system eliminates the need to monitor a passage.
CWhen sufficient land is available, the pool-and-weir system creates a winding stream around the original barrier.
DAlthough water may continue flowing beneath a road, a culvert can still interrupt the route followed by migrating fish.
Show answer
Answer: A — By creating a series of short climbs and resting places, the pool-and-weir system allows fish to cross a steep barrier in stages.
The paragraph explains how notches and pools divide a difficult climb into shorter sections with places to rest. Sentence 9 is too general to close that explanation. Choice A brings those details together and connects them to the passage’s central problem. Choice B overstates what the design can do and contradicts the later point that passages must be monitored. Choice C describes the bypass channel in the third paragraph, not the pool-and-weir system. Choice D returns to the culvert problem from the first paragraph rather than concluding the design discussion.
Question 2
Which sentence should replace sentence 19 to provide the most effective conclusion to the passage?
AThus, a pool-and-weir system can help fish cross a steep barrier by dividing the climb into short rises and resting pools.
BThus, when it is suited to local species and maintained over time, a fish passage can restore movement past a barrier without requiring that barrier to be removed.
CThus, where enough land is available, a nature-like bypass channel can give fish a gradual winding route around a barrier.
DThus, sensors near a passage's entrance and exit can help researchers determine whether fish are using the channel as intended.
Show answer
Answer: B — Thus, when it is suited to local species and maintained over time, a fish passage can restore movement past a barrier without requiring that barrier to be removed.
The passage presents fish passages as alternatives to removing barriers while emphasizing suitable designs, local conditions, and continued maintenance. Sentence 19 is too thin to close that argument. Choice B synthesizes those central ideas without making an unsupported claim. Choice A summarizes only the pool-and-weir design from the second paragraph. Choice C summarizes only the bypass channel from the third paragraph. Choice D treats sensors as the concluding point, although the passage presents them as one monitoring tool rather than as the passage's overall claim.
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