A pronoun question tests whether a pronoun matches the noun it stands for. Sort the choices by number, then read across the sentence break to find who or what does the verb after the blank. Use a singular pronoun for one thing and a plural pronoun for more than one. A subject tells who or what the verb is about, while a possessive tells whose something is. The nearest noun isn't always the one the pronoun stands for.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look back at the first sentence for who or what reviews the submissions. The noun the pronoun stands for can be in an earlier sentence.
- Hint 2
Check whether that noun names one thing or more than one. The verbs reviews and decides can help you check that number.
Step-by-step
Sort, find, and match
Step 1Sort the pronoun forms
Start by sorting the choices into forms for one thing and forms for more than one. The forms they and those refer to more than one thing; their shows ownership by more than one. What job does the blank have before reviews reader submissions? It needs a subject, the word that does the reviewing, so their can't fill that spot.
- Step 2
Find who does the reviewing
Who reviews the submissions and decides which stories to assign? Read back across the period to The editorial team. We can cross out at the local newspaper, which tells us where the team works rather than who does the reviewing. The noun team is singular, meaning one group, even though several people belong to it.
- Step 3
Match the subject and its verbs
In reviews reader submissions and decides, both verbs have -s endings, which go with a singular subject. We need the singular subject pronoun, so it fills the blank: it reviews and it decides. Choice B.