Question 38·Medium·Boundaries
Maya Lin is celebrated for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; her minimalist ______ emphasizes simplicity and harmony with the surrounding landscape, has influenced a generation of architects.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation and clause-boundary questions, first find the main subject and verb of each part of the sentence—especially around semicolons or colons—to be sure each side is (or isn’t meant to be) a complete sentence. Then decide whether any clause (often starting with "which," "who," or "that") is essential or just extra information; nonessential clauses must be set off with matching punctuation (commas with commas, dashes with dashes). Eliminate choices that leave a lone comma between a subject and its verb or that mix punctuation marks instead of pairing them consistently. аniko.aі ЅAТ Questіοn Ваnk
Hints
Check what comes after the semicolon
A semicolon should be followed by a complete sentence. Look at the part beginning with "her minimalist style" and figure out what the main subject and main verb are.
Decide if the "which" phrase is essential or extra
Ask yourself: If you remove the words starting with "which" and ending at "landscape," does the remaining sentence still make sense and stay complete? anіko.aі/ѕat
Match the punctuation around the extra information
There is already a comma after "landscape." Think about what punctuation at the blank would correctly open and balance this extra "which" phrase.
Watch for commas between subject and verb
Make sure you are not leaving a single comma awkwardly separating the main subject from its main verb in the second clause.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the sentence structure around the blank
Read the sentence in chunks: A-n-i-k-o.аi
- First part: "Maya Lin is celebrated for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial;" — this is a complete sentence (an independent clause).
- After the semicolon, we need another complete sentence: something like "her minimalist style ... has influenced a generation of architects."
So everything after the semicolon must form its own independent clause.
Locate the subject, verb, and extra information
Focus on the part after the semicolon:
- Core subject: "her minimalist style"
- Core verb: "has influenced"
- Extra description: "which emphasizes simplicity and harmony with the surrounding landscape"
If you temporarily remove the "which" phrase, you get:
her minimalist style ___ has influenced a generation of architects.
This is a complete sentence, and the "which" phrase is extra information about the style.
Recognize a nonessential (extra) clause
Because the clause starting with "which" is extra information (the sentence still works without it), it is a nonessential clause.
Nonessential clauses must be set off with matching punctuation on both sides—usually commas, but sometimes dashes or parentheses.
We already have a comma after "landscape," which closes the clause. That means we need punctuation before "which" to open it and match that closing comma.
Test the choices for correct and consistent punctuation
We need a comma before "which" to pair with the comma already after "landscape" and avoid a stray comma between the subject and its verb. The only choice that does this is "style, which," giving:
"her minimalist style, which emphasizes simplicity and harmony with the surrounding landscape, has influenced a generation of architects."
This preserves a complete sentence after the semicolon and correctly punctuates the nonessential "which" clause.