so as to : in order to OR " in such a way as to "

 The correct usage is so <adjective/adverb> as to <verb> ... 

 if the adjective is not present => "so as to"  is incorrec atleast for GMAT Sentence Correction

such that is preferred over so as to ... why? such that is concise. 

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Collective noun: A collective noun is a word used to define a group of objects, where "objects" can be live, inanimate things, concepts, or other things. In GMAT Sentence Correction or english grammar in general, collective nouns are always singular. It is important to know as many collective nouns as possible so that we can identify them when we encounter them in questions.

 A list of collective nouns, please include more which I may have missed:

List of Collective nouns:

archive, administration, army,asylum, audience,

babel, ballet, band,
bevy, brigade,

camp, cast, chorus, class, cluster, colony, company,
congregation, constellation, cornucopia, crowd,

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Lie and Lay...

When speaking in the present tense, lie is used when there is no direct object involved.

"I lie down on the bed", or "You lie on the ground"

Lay is used when there is a direct object in the sentence.

"The phone lay on the table" or "The pencil lay on the desk".

In the past tense, lie turns to lay, which makes this confusing.

If you can put "the" in front of the noun that the verb is describing, this is a direct object. I do not know if this is the textbook definition, but I use this to distinguish.

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Rise and Raise are two different words completely. But they sound similar.
Raise: [usually used when a person acts on a third person]
Meanings: to lift something, to set upright, to elevate something.
I think it can be used as a synonym for nurturing ... like he was raised by his foster parents.
Rise: [usually used when a person acts on himself]
Meanings: to get up, to get up from a sleeping/kneeling/sitting position, to come back from dead (zombies anyone!
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The word "in spite" always comes with 'of' .... "in spite of" .....

Note: Its NOT "inspite of", the correct usage is "in spite of" ..... in other words inspite is not a word ...its two words "in spite"

despite and "in spite of" are similar in english, you can use them interchangeably.

Usage: They are used to indicate the fact that they are "taking no notice of" something.

- He went to school in spite of cold weather. (He didnt take notice of cold)

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There are no hard and fast rules about how to use articles accurately. During the editing process of a student’s essays, correcting these finer grammatical points is often times required. For many, it can be confusing and frustrating to try to discern when and when not to use these articles. To help you write better and improve your grammar, we summarized some basic rules about articles for your easy reference.

#1. No article is necessary before an uncountable noun which is used in an indefinite sense, i.e., in a non-unique, non-specific and non-defined way.
Example: Some people prefer water to coffee every morning.

“The” is necessary before an uncountable noun which is used in a definite sense.
Example: The water in this town is famous for its purity.

Never use “a” or “an” before an uncountable noun.
Example (incorrect): a happiness

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Likely Special care must be taken with the adjective likely. It is often mistaken for an adverb because of its form, but this is not an acceptable usage, for example:

Like (used as adjective or preposition) Like, with its opposite unlike, should be treated as an adjective as well; that is, it must always have a noun to relate to. A predicate is formed with the verb to be:Life is like a box of chocolates. (Life resembles a box of chocolates.)Used in the form of a phrase, like will link two nouns (or noun phrases) of the same kind. In this case, like is virtually a preposition,

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