Question 139·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
With a sudden gust, the door slammed shut, causing the papers on the desk ______ across the room.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For Standard English sentence-completion questions, first read the sentence without the choices and decide what role the blank plays (verb, noun, modifier, etc.). Then look at the structure right before and after the blank to see what grammatical pattern is required (for example, whether a full clause, an infinitive phrase, or an -ing form is needed). Quickly test each option in the sentence, eliminating any that create fragments, awkward passive constructions, or meaning that does not match the context. This structural approach is faster and more reliable than going by what merely “sounds okay.”
Hints
Look at the phrase with "causing"
Focus on the part starting with "causing": "causing the papers on the desk ______ across the room." What exactly is this part of the sentence describing?
Think about what the papers did
The door slams shut because of a gust. As a result, what action did the papers perform across the room? The blank must describe that action in a grammatically complete way after "the papers on the desk."
Check for a complete, natural-sounding phrase
Read the sentence out loud with each option in place. Which choice makes the phrase after "causing the papers on the desk" sound like a complete, natural description of what happened, without needing extra words?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Read the sentence without the blank:
"With a sudden gust, the door slammed shut, causing the papers on the desk ______ across the room."
The phrase starting with "causing" explains what happened because the door slammed shut. The blank must describe what the papers did as a result.
Identify the grammar pattern after "causing"
After "causing," we have a noun phrase: "the papers on the desk." We then need a verb phrase that tells what the papers did, in a smooth, complete way. In English, a common and correct pattern is:
"causing" + [thing affected] + [verb phrase describing what it did]
So we are looking for a form of "flutter" that can follow "the papers on the desk" and make a complete, natural-sounding result: "causing the papers on the desk ___ across the room."
Test each choice for grammar and meaning
Now plug in each option:
- A) "causing the papers on the desk flutter across the room" – this is missing a connecting word and sounds incomplete.
- B) "causing the papers on the desk to be fluttered across the room" – this is a passive form and is awkward and unnatural here, especially since "flutter" is normally something the papers do themselves.
- C) "causing the papers on the desk fluttering across the room" – this does not form a complete clause after the noun and is ungrammatical.
- D) "causing the papers on the desk to flutter across the room" – this is a complete, natural result: the gust made the papers move in a fluttering way.
The only option that is both grammatically correct and natural in meaning is D) to flutter.