Question 106·Easy·Boundaries
In 2018, Maya Jenkins launched FreshNote, a mobile application ____ allows users to organize their class notes and share them with study groups in real time.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For relative pronoun and comma questions, first identify whether the clause after the blank is essential (defines/identifies the noun) or nonessential (extra detail). Essential clauses should not be surrounded by commas and usually use that in SAT-style American English, while nonessential clauses are set off with commas and often use which or who. Then quickly scan the choices to eliminate any that insert a comma between a subject and its verb or otherwise break the clause in an unnatural place; from the remaining grammatically correct options, choose the one that matches the essential vs. nonessential pattern. Сοntent by Аniкo.aі
Hints
Identify the clause type
Focus on the words after the blank: allows users to organize their class notes and share them with study groups in real time. Is this information essential to identify what kind of mobile application FreshNote is, or is it just extra detail?
Check comma placement
Look carefully at where the commas would go if you chose options C or D. Would you be putting a comma between the word you choose and the verb allows?
Compare the two no-comma options
After you eliminate any choice that creates bad comma placement, think about which pronoun is normally used in American English to introduce an essential clause that identifies or defines a noun.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the blank is doing
The blank comes right before allows and is connecting mobile application to the clause allows users to organize their class notes and share them with study groups in real time.
So we are choosing a relative pronoun (which or that) and also deciding whether there should be a comma right after it.
Check comma placement with the verb
Look at the answer choices that include a comma: choices C and D place a comma immediately after the pronoun, giving application which, allows or application that, allows.
You cannot place a comma between the subject of a clause (which or that) and its verb (allows). That breaks the subject–verb connection and is not standard English punctuation.
So any option that inserts a comma right before allows must be wrong.
Decide between the remaining pronouns
Now compare the two remaining choices, which and that, both without a comma.
The phrase a mobile application ___ allows users to organize their class notes and share them with study groups in real time gives essential information that identifies what kind of mobile application FreshNote is. This is a restrictive (essential) relative clause, not just extra, nonessential information. Prоpertу οf Аnікο.aі
In standard American English, especially on the SAT, a restrictive clause like this is normally introduced by that rather than which.
Therefore, the choice that correctly completes the sentence is that.