Question 38·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
During inspection, the technician noted that one of the printer ____ was clogged and needed replacement.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For Standard English questions about possessives and number (singular/plural), first spot key patterns like "one of the," which always requires a plural noun right after it. Then, decide what belongs to what in real-world terms (who owns what?), and make only the owner possessive, not the thing being described. Eliminate any choice with extra apostrophes, incorrect pluralization, or structures that don’t read smoothly when you plug them back into the full sentence.
Hints
Look at the phrase "one of the"
Whenever you see "one of the," the noun that follows should be plural. Identify which word in the options is supposed to be that plural noun.
Identify the clogged part
Ask yourself: in a printer, what exactly gets clogged and needs replacement—cartridges, nozzles, or something that belongs to a nozzle?
Check possessive endings carefully
Decide which word(s) must show ownership and which should just be plain plural. Watch for extra apostrophes that would incorrectly suggest something belongs to the nozzle.
Match grammar to meaning
Make sure your choice both sounds natural in the sentence and accurately reflects the real relationship between printer, cartridge(s), and nozzle(s).
Verify subject-verb agreement
The main subject of the verb "was" is "one," which is singular, so the phrase after "one of the" should describe a group you are selecting from, not be the singular subject itself.
Step-by-step Explanation
Recognize the "one of the" structure
Focus on the phrase: "one of the printer ____ was clogged".
After "one of the," the noun that follows should be plural, because you are picking one item out of a group. So whatever word in the blank functions as the thing we are choosing from must be plural (for example, "students," "books," "nozzles").
Figure out what belongs to what
Think about the real-world meaning:
- A printer uses cartridges.
- Each cartridge has multiple nozzles.
- The clogged thing is one nozzle.
The phrase should show that the nozzle is one of several nozzles that belong to a cartridge. So:
- The owner: cartridge (singular) or cartridges (plural).
- The owned thing: nozzles (plural), because it’s a group (we are picking one of them).
Choose correct singular/plural and possessive forms
Now match the grammar rules:
- After "one of the," we need a plural noun: that points us toward "nozzles", not "nozzle."
- To show possession (nozzles belonging to a cartridge), we need one possessive noun before "nozzles":
- Singular possessive: cartridge’s (one cartridge).
- Plural possessive: cartridges’ (more than one cartridge).
- We do not need to make "nozzles" possessive, because nothing in the sentence belongs to the nozzle; the nozzle itself is what is clogged.
Test the remaining option in the full sentence
Use the only option that:
- Has plural "nozzles" after "one of the," and
- Uses a single, logical possessive to show that the nozzles belong to one cartridge.
Fill it in:
During inspection, the technician noted that one of the printer cartridge’s nozzles was clogged and needed replacement.
This is grammatically correct and makes clear sense, so the correct answer is "cartridge’s nozzles".