很多学生在备考SAT写作的时候都有一个误区，认为长句、难句和复杂句能够提升语言质量，展示自己深厚的语言功底。这种想法确实有一定的道理，然而一味地追求句子的长度有时反而会牺牲句子的可读性，显得冗长啰嗦。下面我们就来看一些例子，体会一些写得并不成功的长句和如何修改的建议：
建议一：避免空洞的单词和词组
1. 一些完全可以被删掉。比如下面的句子：
When all things are considered, young adults of today live more satisfying lives than those of their parents, in my opinion.
这句话当中的“when all things are considered”和“in my opinion”都显得多余。完全可以去掉。改为：Young adults of today live more satisfying lives than their parents.
2. 有些空洞和繁琐的表达方式可以进行替换，例如：
Due to the fact that our grandparents were under an obligation to help their parents，they did not have the options that young people have at this point in time.
“due to the fact that”就是一个很典型的繁琐的表达方式的例子，可以替换，简化为下面的表达方式：
Because our grandparents were obligated to help their parents, they did not have the options that young people have now.
建议二：避免重复
1. 尽量避免重复使用同样意思的词汇。例如下面这个例子：
The farm my grandfather grew up on was large in size.
Large 对一个farm来说就是size方面的large，所以in size可以去掉，改为：The farm my grandfather grew up on was large.
更简洁的表达方式为：My grandfather grew up on a large farm.
2. 有时一个词组可以用一个更简单的单词来替换，例如：
My grandfather has said over and over again that he had to work on his parents' farm.
这里的over and over again就可以改为repeatedly，显得更为简洁：
My grandfather has said repeatedly that he had to work on his parents' farm.