Question 69·Hard·Form, Structure, and Sense
An alumna of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, ______ as both an architect and a furniture designer, creating structures and objects that fuse minimalism with ecological responsibility.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For sentence-completion questions involving introductory phrases, first identify what the opening phrase is describing and then ensure the noun right after the comma matches it logically and grammatically. Quickly eliminate any choice where the subject after the comma cannot reasonably be what the introductory phrase describes (often a person vs. a thing), and read the full sentence with your remaining option(s) to confirm it sounds clear and direct without dangling modifiers or awkward word order.
Hints
Focus on the introductory phrase
Look closely at the phrase before the comma: "An alumna of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts." Ask yourself: who or what is being described as an alumna?
Match the modifier to the subject
The noun right after the comma should be the thing that the introductory phrase describes. What kind of noun can logically be "an alumna"—a person, a place, an object, or an action?
Plug in choices and check for dangling modifiers
Read the sentence with each option in place. In which versions does the opening phrase accidentally describe something that cannot be an alumna, making the sentence illogical or awkward?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the sentence structure
Notice that the sentence starts with an introductory phrase: "An alumna of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts," followed by a comma and a blank. This introductory phrase is a modifier that should describe the subject of the main clause that comes right after the comma.
Decide what the subject must be
The word "alumna" means a female graduate, so it must refer to a person. That means the noun or noun phrase immediately after the comma must be a person who can logically be "an alumna of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts." Anything that is not a person (like a studio, work, furniture, or buildings) cannot be the thing described by that opening phrase.
Test each choice for logical and grammatical fit
Plug each option into the blank:
- If the option makes the subject something that cannot be an alumna (such as a studio, a type of work, or objects like furniture and buildings), then the opening phrase becomes a dangling modifier that illogically describes the wrong thing.
- Also check that the sentence reads smoothly and directly: it should be a straightforward clause like "[Person] has gained recognition as both an architect and a furniture designer..." without awkward reversals or unnecessary wordiness.
Choose the option that makes the alumna the subject
The only choice that makes a person—the alumna herself—the subject right after the comma and forms a clear, standard sentence is "Claire Esmonde has gained recognition", giving: "An alumna of the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, Claire Esmonde has gained recognition as both an architect and a furniture designer, creating structures and objects that fuse minimalism with ecological responsibility."