Question Bank / Reading and Writing / Form, Structure, and Sense
Form, Structure, and Sense SAT question
Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions · Easy · Answer it here, explanation included.
Atoms in a synchrotron, a type of circular particle accelerator, travel faster and faster until they blank a desired energy level, at which point they are diverted to collide with a target, smashing the atoms.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
ExplanationShow
Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verbs to express tense in a sentence. In this choice, the present tense verb “reach” is consistent with the present tense verbs “travel” and “are diverted” used to describe how atoms move through the synchrotron.
Choice A is incorrect because the future tense verb “will reach” is inconsistent with the present tense verbs used to describe how atoms move through the synchrotron. Though the atoms’ movement is a recurring action and “will reach” can also be used to indicate a habitual or recurring action, it creates a logical inconsistency in this sentence when paired with the present tense verbs “travel” and “are diverted.” Choice C is incorrect because the past perfect tense verb “had reached” is inconsistent with the present tense verbs used to describe how atoms move through the synchrotron. Choice D is incorrect because the present progressive tense verb “are reaching” is inconsistent with the present tense verbs used to describe how atoms move through the synchrotron. While both verbs occur in the present, the present progressive tense suggests that the action is currently in progress. This creates a logical inconsistency when paired with the present tense verbs “travel” and “are diverted,” which offer a general description of the tendencies of the atoms’ movement, rather than a description of an action that is currently in progress.
Drill this skill on Aceit
Adaptive practice, a daily plan, and score tracking take a free account so we can save your work.
More Form, Structure, and Sense questions
- The radiation that ______ during the decay of radioactive atomic nuclei is known as gamma radiation.
- Despite being cheap, versatile, and easy to produce, ______ they are made from nonrenewable petroleum, and most do not biodegrade in landfills.
- On April 5, 1977, Kitty Cone and 150 other disability rights activists entered a San Francisco federal building. After pleading for years—to no effect—for the passage of key antidi
- In recent years, economists around the world have created new tools that quantify the overall well-being of a country's citizens. Economists in India, for example, use an Ease of L
- Mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz used the metaphor of the "butterfly effect" to explain how seemingly minor events can have major impacts on future weather. According
- Bonnie Buratti of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory ______ data about Saturn's rings collected by the Cassini spacecraft when she made an interesting discovery: the tiny moons embed