Question 71·Medium·Boundaries
During the annual summer festival in Riverbend _____ thousands of visitors sample regional dishes, watch live performances, and participate in hands-on workshops.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation-boundary questions, first locate the main clause (subject + verb) and see whether the words before the blank form a complete sentence or just an introductory phrase. Then recall the rules: colons and single dashes must follow a full independent clause, while commas commonly separate long introductory phrases or clauses from the main clause. Use these structure-based rules—not what “sounds right”—to eliminate choices quickly and select the punctuation that correctly matches the sentence pattern.
Hints
Find the main clause
Identify the subject and verb of the main action in the sentence. What do "thousands of visitors" do?
Classify the opening phrase
Look at the words before the blank: do they form a complete sentence, or are they an introductory phrase that leads into the main clause?
Match punctuation to structure
Remember that colons and dashes must follow a complete sentence. Then ask: after a longer introductory phrase, what punctuation is typically used to separate it from the main clause, if any?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the structure of the sentence
Look at the full sentence:
"During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park _____ thousands of visitors sample regional dishes, watch live performances, and participate in hands-on workshops."
- The main clause (the core sentence) is "thousands of visitors sample regional dishes, watch live performances, and participate in hands-on workshops."
- Before that, we have "During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park".
- This beginning part starts with the preposition "During", so it is an introductory prepositional phrase, not a complete sentence on its own (it has no subject-verb pair that can stand alone).
Apply rules for dashes and colons
On the SAT, single dashes (—) and colons (:) have a key requirement:
- They must come after a complete sentence (an independent clause) and then introduce an explanation, example, or elaboration.
Check the text before the blank: "During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park".
- This is not a complete sentence; it cannot stand alone as a full thought.
- Because of that, it cannot correctly be followed by a colon or a dash.
So you can eliminate the choices that add a colon or dash after "Park."
Decide between comma and no punctuation
Now compare the remaining options:
- No punctuation: "During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park thousands of visitors sample..."
- Comma: "During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park, thousands of visitors sample..."
In Standard English, especially on the SAT, a long introductory phrase like "During the annual summer festival in Riverbend Park" should be followed by a comma to clearly separate it from the main clause and make the sentence easy to read.
Therefore, the correct choice is B) Park,.