Question 190·Easy·Form, Structure, and Sense
A small but dedicated team at the university recently launched a literary magazine, which ______ articles on environmental justice, original poetry, and interviews with local authors.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb-form questions in sentences with words like "who," "which," or "that," first locate the noun the pronoun refers to and decide if it is singular or plural. Then check that the word in the blank is a finite verb (not just an -ing, -ed, or "to" form) that agrees with that noun and fits the time frame of the sentence. Plug each remaining option back into the full sentence to see which one creates a complete, natural-sounding clause that follows standard English conventions.
Hints
Notice the word before the blank
Look at the word right before the blank: it is "which." Think about what kind of clause usually comes right after "which."
Find the noun that "which" refers to
Ask yourself: "Which what?" Identify the noun earlier in the sentence that "which" is describing, and decide if that noun is singular or plural.
Check for a complete clause
After "which," do you need a full verb that shows tense and agrees with the noun, or just a phrase? Try each option in the blank and see which one makes a complete, grammatically correct statement about the magazine.
Step-by-step Explanation
Locate what the blank is doing in the sentence
Look at the structure around the blank: "a literary magazine, which ______ articles on environmental justice..." The word "which" begins a relative clause that is giving more information about "a literary magazine." The blank must start that clause properly.
Identify the subject of the relative clause
In the clause after "which," the subject is the noun that "which" refers back to.
- "Which" refers to "a literary magazine."
- So inside the clause, the understood subject is singular: "magazine." We therefore need a verb form that matches a singular subject.
Decide what kind of verb form is needed
After a relative pronoun like "which," we normally need a finite verb (a verb that shows tense and agrees with the subject), not just a -ing or -ed form. So we are looking for a plain verb form that can complete "which ___ articles..." as a full clause that makes sense: it should describe what the magazine does.
Match tense, agreement, and sentence meaning
The magazine is still a magazine that currently has these kinds of contents, so present tense is logical. Also, the subject is singular (magazine), so we need a singular present verb. Only "features" is a singular present-tense verb that correctly follows "which" and completes the clause: "which features articles on environmental justice, original poetry, and interviews with local authors."