Question 41·Medium·Form, Structure, and Sense
Having trained for months on a demanding schedule, _____ the city marathon in under three hours—a personal record. The accomplishment earned widespread praise from the local running community.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For sentence-structure questions with a blank in the middle of a sentence, first identify any introductory phrases or modifiers and decide who or what they logically describe. The noun or subject right after a comma must be the thing doing the action in that modifier; otherwise, it creates a dangling modifier. Then, plug each option into the sentence and read it as a whole, checking that it forms a complete, logical main clause and avoiding options that are wordy, passive, or repetitive when a simple, direct wording is available.
Hints
Look at the phrase before the comma
Focus on "Having trained for months on a demanding schedule". Ask yourself: Who is doing that training? The word that comes right after the comma should be that person.
Check for a complete main clause
After you insert an answer choice, does the part after the comma form a clear, complete sentence with a subject and verb that make sense together?
Watch for repetition and awkward wording
When you plug in an answer, read the full sentence out loud in your head. Does it repeat "the city marathon" or turn a simple idea into a long, clumsy phrase?
Prefer clear, active structure
Between choices that are grammatically possible, the SAT usually prefers the most direct and straightforward wording, not wordy or passive constructions.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Read the whole sentence with a blank:
"Having trained for months on a demanding schedule, _____ the city marathon in under three hours—a personal record. The accomplishment earned widespread praise from the local running community."
The part before the comma ("Having trained for months on a demanding schedule") is an introductory phrase that needs to lead into a full main clause (a complete sentence) after the comma.
Identify who did the action in the introductory phrase
The introductory phrase describes someone who has been training: "Having trained for months on a demanding schedule".
Ask: Who trained for months? It must be a person (the runner), not the marathon or an abstract idea like "completion." So the subject that comes right after the comma should be the person who trained.
Check each option for logical subject and modifier attachment
Plug each option into the blank and see who appears right after the comma:
- A) "Having trained for months on a demanding schedule, Maya completed the city marathon..." → the person who trained is Maya, which makes sense.
- B) "..., the city marathon was completed by Maya the city marathon..." → the subject after the comma is "the city marathon," which did not train, and the phrase repeats "the city marathon." This creates a dangling modifier and repetition.
- C) "..., the completion of the city marathon by Maya occurred the city marathon..." → the subject is "the completion," which also did not train, and the wording is very awkward and repetitive.
- D) "..., completing the city marathon was Maya's achievement the city marathon..." → starts with a noun-like verb form ("completing") instead of a clear subject doing the action and again leads to repetition.
Only one option keeps the person (Maya) right after the comma and avoids the marathon or its completion being the "doer" of the training.
Check for completeness and concision
The main clause after the comma should be a clear, complete, and concise statement of what happened:
"Maya completed the city marathon in under three hours—a personal record."
This is a complete sentence: subject = Maya, verb = completed, object = the city marathon. It is also much more direct and less wordy than the other options.
Therefore, the choice that correctly completes the sentence is "Maya completed".