Question 55·Easy·Boundaries
In 2020, the city expanded its network of bike lanes by nearly forty _____ improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For boundary questions, first split the sentence mentally at the blank and check whether each side is an independent clause (has its own subject and verb and can stand alone). If both sides are complete sentences, eliminate options that use only a comma or no punctuation between them, since that causes comma splices or run-ons. Also test whether adding words like "and" changes the subject or meaning in an illogical way. Finally, make sure capitalization matches your decision about whether a new sentence begins after the blank.
Hints
Check the structure after the blank
Look closely at the words that come after the blank: "the improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion." Ask yourself if this part could stand alone as a complete sentence.
Think about clause boundaries
If the part after the blank is a complete sentence, you need some kind of strong boundary (like a sentence break or equivalent) between the words before and after the blank. A simple comma is usually not enough between two complete sentences.
Consider how the meaning would change with "and"
If you insert "and" after "percent," what would the subject of the verb "encouraged" be? Does that subject make sense with the meaning of the sentence?
Pay attention to capitalization
If you decide a new sentence should start after the blank, think about how the first word of that new sentence should be capitalized, and see which option matches that.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the two parts of the sentence
Read the sentence with the blank as a pause:
"In 2020, the city expanded its network of bike lanes by nearly forty _____ improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion."
Notice that after the blank, we have "the improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion." Ask: Is this a complete thought with its own subject and verb?
Decide if the part after the blank is an independent clause
The phrase after the blank, "the improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion," has a subject ("the improvement") and a verb ("encouraged"). It can stand alone as a complete sentence. That means the text before the blank and the text after the blank are two independent clauses. Independent clauses must be correctly joined (with a period, semicolon, or comma + coordinating conjunction) or separated into two sentences.
Check which option correctly separates the two clauses
Test each type of connection:
- A comma alone between two independent clauses (like "..., percent, the improvement...") creates a comma splice, which is not allowed.
- Adding "and" ("..., percent and the improvement encouraged...") would join the verbs so that "the city" both expanded the lanes and encouraged commuters, which is not the intended meaning.
- No punctuation ("..., percent the improvement encouraged...") mashes the clauses together and is ungrammatical.
A sentence boundary (a period) between them, followed by a capital letter, would correctly separate the two sentences.
Choose the option that creates correct punctuation and capitalization
Only one choice provides a period after "percent" and correctly capitalizes "The" to start a new sentence: Choice C) percent. The.
The full text becomes:
"In 2020, the city expanded its network of bike lanes by nearly forty percent. The improvement encouraged more commuters to cycle to work, reducing traffic congestion."
This is clear, grammatical, and follows Standard English conventions.