Question 245·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
The committee questioned whether the new guidelines were comprehensive enough; after three hours of debate, the group decided to postpone ______ vote until further data could be gathered.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For pronoun questions, first find the antecedent (the noun the pronoun refers to) and decide if it is singular or plural. Then decide whether the sentence needs a possessive pronoun, a subject/object pronoun, a contraction (like “it’s”), or a location word (like “there”). Quickly classify each answer choice by type and number, eliminate those that don’t match both the meaning and the grammar, and confirm by reading the remaining option back into the sentence.
Hints
Identify the noun the blank refers to
Ask yourself: whose vote is being postponed? Look just before the blank to see which noun the pronoun should refer back to.
Check if that noun is singular or plural
Decide whether the noun that owns the vote should take a singular pronoun or a plural one. Remember that some collective nouns (like “team” or “group”) are treated as singular in Standard English on the SAT.
Decide what type of word is needed
Does the sentence need a possessive word (showing ownership of the vote), a contraction like “it is,” or a word that refers to place? Try briefly saying each type in the sentence.
Classify each answer choice
Look at the four options and sort them: which are possessive pronouns, which are contractions, and which refer to place or existence? Then choose the one whose type and number match the noun it refers to.
Step-by-step Explanation
Find what the blank refers to
Look at the part of the sentence just before the blank: “the group decided to postpone ______ vote.” The word in the blank must describe whose vote it is.
So the blank needs a word that shows possession (ownership) of “vote” and refers back to “the group.”
Determine number and type of pronoun needed
The noun “group” is a singular collective noun in Standard English. Even though it represents multiple people, grammatically it is treated as singular here.
Because the blank must show ownership of the vote by this singular noun, you need a singular possessive pronoun, not a plural pronoun, not a contraction like “it is,” and not a word about place.
Eliminate choices that don’t match and select the remaining one
Now classify the choices:
- One choice is a plural possessive pronoun (used for plural nouns).
- One choice is a contraction of “it is” or “it has,” which doesn’t fit the meaning of the sentence.
- One choice is a word about place or existence, not possession.
- The remaining choice is the singular possessive pronoun that correctly refers to the singular noun “group” and shows ownership of the vote.
Therefore, the correct answer is A) its.