3. Elite Language & the Extended Response

The language items now test grammar and style at the very top of the range:

• Faulty comparisons -- 'more original than any OTHER writer'; compare like with like.
• Inverted agreement -- find the true subject when it follows the verb ('Among the files was a contract').
• Conditional-perfect mood -- 'If she had known, she would have left.'
• Complex who/whom -- the pronoun's role inside its own clause decides the form.
• Precise diction and concision -- the exact word, with nothing wasted.

The Extended Response standard never changes: argue which side is better supported by evidence, with a clear claim, support drawn from both passages, and organized paragraphs. At this level, the strongest essays also weigh and answer the opposing argument.