Question 66·Hard·Boundaries
A leader in environmental engineering, Dr. Noriko Tanaka pioneered new desalination methods that reduce energy consumption by nearly 40 percent (a breakthrough that, according to industry analysts, could reshape water management in drought-prone ___ and lower operational costs for municipalities worldwide.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For boundaries questions, first locate the main sentence and any parenthetical asides. Match any paired punctuation (parentheses, dashes, quotes) so every opener has a correct closer. Then check the grammar right after the blank: if the sentence is simply continuing a compound predicate with “and,” avoid inserting extra commas or dashes that create an unnecessary break.
Hints
Look at the extra information in the middle
Identify where the extra explanatory phrase (the aside) begins and ends. How is it set off from the rest of the sentence?
Match your punctuation marks
You already have an opening parenthesis before “a breakthrough.” What punctuation do you need later to balance it?
Check the words immediately before and after the blank
Notice the words around the blank are “drought-prone ___ and lower.” Decide whether anything (like a comma or dash) should separate the end of the aside from “and lower.”
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Read the full sentence and identify the main clause and the parenthetical aside:
“A leader in environmental engineering, Dr. Noriko Tanaka pioneered new desalination methods that reduce energy consumption by nearly 40 percent (a breakthrough that, according to industry analysts, could reshape water management in drought-prone ___ and lower operational costs for municipalities worldwide.”
The main point is that the methods do two things: reduce energy consumption and lower operational costs. The material in parentheses is extra information about the breakthrough.
Match the parentheses
There is an opening parenthesis before “a breakthrough,” so the parenthetical aside must be closed with a closing parenthesis at the blank.
That means the correct choice must include the word that belongs right before the closing parenthesis and must actually close the parenthesis.
Avoid unnecessary punctuation before “and”
After the parenthetical ends, the sentence continues with a compound predicate (“reduce … and lower …”). In Standard English, you do not add a comma or a dash between two verbs that share the same subject and are joined by “and.”
So after closing the parenthesis, the sentence should continue smoothly into “and lower …” without a comma or dash.
Select the option that closes the aside and continues smoothly
The only option that both (1) supplies the missing word and (2) closes the parenthetical aside without adding an extra break is:
“...in drought-prone regions) and lower operational costs...”
So the correct answer is regions).