Question 45·Hard·Form, Structure, and Sense
Although the poet’s early drafts were dense and disorganized, her subsequent revisions sharpened each image, clarified each metaphor, and ______ the emotional core that had been buried beneath ornamental language.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For Standard English conventions questions involving lists, quickly identify whether you have a series of parallel elements (like verbs, nouns, or phrases). Check the form and tense of the existing items and make sure the choice you pick matches that form exactly, without adding or removing conjunctions or changing tense. When in doubt, read the sentence out loud in your head with each option and listen for which one keeps the pattern and sounds smooth and consistent.
Hints
Locate the main verb pattern
Focus on the part after "her subsequent revisions"—what verbs describe what the revisions did to improve the poem?
Notice the list structure
Look at the three actions in the series: "sharpened each image, clarified each metaphor, and ______ the emotional core." What grammatical form do the first two verbs share?
Match tense and avoid extra words
The verb you choose should match the tense and form of "sharpened" and "clarified" and should not introduce an extra "and" or change the structure of the list.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the sentence is describing
The sentence contrasts the poet’s early drafts with her later revisions. The subject of the main clause is "her subsequent revisions", and these revisions are doing several actions to improve the poem.
Identify the series of parallel verbs
Look at the verbs that describe what the revisions did:
- "sharpened each image"
- "clarified each metaphor"
- "and ______ the emotional core"
These are three items in a list, so they should be parallel (same grammatical form). The first two are simple past-tense verbs: "sharpened" and "clarified".
Match the form and fix any structure issues
We need another simple past-tense verb that can follow "and" and match "sharpened" and "clarified":
- "reveal" is present tense, so it does not match the past-tense verbs.
- "revealing" is an -ing form and would break the parallel pattern.
- "and revealed" would give us "and and revealed," which is repetitive and ungrammatical because the sentence already has "and" before the blank.
- "revealed" is simple past tense and fits smoothly: "sharpened each image, clarified each metaphor, and revealed the emotional core..."
Therefore, the correct answer is "revealed".