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.
Why are Rome’s famous concrete structures, such as the Colosseum, still standing after 2,000-plus years, when modern concrete may not even last for fifty? Scientists blank that the secret to Roman concrete’s durability was its unique blend of ingredients, which included volcanic ash and seawater.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
ExplanationShow
Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of verb forms within a sentence. The main clause of a sentence requires a finite (tensed) verb, and this choice supplies the finite present tense verb “explain” to indicate what the scientists do.
Choice B is incorrect because it results in an ungrammatical sentence. The nonfinite participle “having explained” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb. Choice C is incorrect because it results in an ungrammatical sentence. The nonfinite participle “explaining” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb. Choice D is incorrect because it results in an ungrammatical sentence. The nonfinite to-infinitive “to explain” doesn’t supply the main clause with a finite verb.
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