Question 17·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
Although the original manuscript of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is kept under strict archival conditions, digital facsimiles of ______ pages are freely accessible online.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For pronoun and apostrophe questions, first decide what role the missing word plays: possession (showing ownership) or a contraction (short for verbs like "is/are/has"). Then, check number (singular vs. plural) against the noun it refers to. Quickly test each option by expanding contractions in your head (e.g., "it's" → "it is") and reread the sentence; eliminate any that sound wrong or change the meaning, and choose the possessive form that matches the subject.
Hints
Look at the words around the blank
Focus on the phrase "digital facsimiles of ______ pages." What kind of word usually comes between "of" and a noun like "pages"?
Check if a contraction makes sense
Try reading the sentence in your head using "it is" or "they are" in the blank. Does the sentence still make sense and stay grammatical?
Think about number: singular vs. plural
The sentence talks about "the original manuscript" (one thing). Which answer choices match a single thing, and which refer to more than one?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the blank is doing in the sentence
Read the sentence with a pause at the blank:
"Although the original manuscript of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is kept under strict archival conditions, digital facsimiles of ______ pages are freely accessible online."
The blank comes after the word "of" and before the noun "pages." So the missing word must describe whose pages they are and fit grammatically in the phrase "of ___ pages."
Identify the grammar of each answer choice
Now look at what each option actually is:
- it's: a contraction meaning "it is" or "it has".
- their: a plural possessive pronoun, used for something that belongs to "them."
- they're: a contraction meaning "they are".
- its: a singular possessive pronoun, used for something that belongs to "it."
Ask which type of word can logically and grammatically fit between "of" and "pages."
Match the correct pronoun to the meaning and structure
Test each choice in the sentence:
- "digital facsimiles of it's pages" = "of it is/it has pages" → the meaning is wrong and ungrammatical.
- "digital facsimiles of their pages" suggests the pages belong to "them," but the sentence is about a single manuscript, not multiple people or things.
- "digital facsimiles of they're pages" = "of they are pages" → clearly wrong.
- "digital facsimiles of its pages" correctly shows that the pages belong to the single manuscript and fits the structure "of [possessive] pages."
So the choice that conforms to Standard English and matches the meaning is D) its.