Question 30·Hard·Boundaries
The 2021 biography The Code Breaker recounts the scientific journey of Jennifer Doudna, a Nobel Prize–winning biochemist whose discovery of CRISPR technology reshaped genetics. Critics have remarked that seasoned _____ presents the complex ethics of gene editing in accessible prose.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation-with-names questions, first identify the full subject and its verb, then check whether the name and its description are essential (needed to know who is meant) or nonessential (extra). Essential titles or descriptions that come directly before a name should not be set off with commas, and you should never place a comma between a complete subject and its verb. Quickly test each option by reading the sentence aloud in your head and eliminating any choice where a comma forces an unnatural pause or splits the subject or subject–verb pair.
Hints
Locate the subject and verb
Read the second sentence and identify what word or phrase is doing the action of "presents." Everything in the blank plus the word "seasoned" will be the subject of the verb "presents."
Think about titles before names
When an occupation or description (like "scientist" or "journalist") comes immediately before a person’s name, ask yourself: do we usually put commas between the title and the name in that position?
Watch for commas that break the subject
Check each option: does it put a comma between the description and the name or between the name and the verb "presents"? Any comma that splits the subject or separates it from its verb is a problem.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Focus on the second sentence:
"Critics have remarked that seasoned _____ presents the complex ethics of gene editing in accessible prose."
The blank is part of the subject of the clause that begins with "that." The full subject will be something like "seasoned [description + name]" followed directly by the verb "presents." There should be no unnecessary punctuation splitting this subject from itself or from its verb.
Recognize the pattern: title/description + name
Inside the blank, we have a job description ("science journalist") followed by a specific name ("Walter Isaacson").
When a job title or description comes before a specific person’s name and is essential to identify that person (for example, "artist Frida Kahlo," "scientist Marie Curie"), we do not use commas between the description and the name.
Apply comma rules to the options
Use these rules:
- Do not put a comma between an essential description and the name it identifies.
- Do not put a comma between the complete subject and its verb (between "Walter Isaacson" and "presents").
Any choice that places a comma either:
- between "science journalist" and "Walter Isaacson," or
- after "Walter Isaacson" before "presents"
will break these rules and must be eliminated.
Select the choice that keeps the subject together
The only option that keeps the essential description and the name together without any commas, and that does not insert a comma before the verb, is:
D) science journalist Walter Isaacson
So the complete, correct sentence is:
"Critics have remarked that seasoned science journalist Walter Isaacson presents the complex ethics of gene editing in accessible prose."