A pronoun question about ownership tests whether you can tell who or what owns the noun after the blank. Sort the choices by whether they refer to one owner or more than one. Then find the owner by reading back and asking whose thing the sentence describes. Match the pronoun to that owner: one owner needs a form for one, and several owners need a form for more than one. The closest noun isn't always the owner.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the first sentence for what the blinking lights belong to.
- Hint 2
Count the owners, not the lights. Does the noun you've found name one thing or more than one?
Step-by-step
Find the owner and match it
Step 1Sort the ownership forms
In ______ lights begin blinking, the blank sits before a noun, so we need a pronoun that shows whose lights they are. Sort the choices into forms for one owner and forms for several: its, his, and her all refer to one. The owner controls the pronoun, even when that owner has several lights.
- Step 2
Find what owns the lights
What owns the lights? The cities installed flashing crosswalk beacons, and the next sentence explains how they work when pedestrians press a button. That means the lights belong to the beacons. The nearby button is what gets pressed to start the blinking, not the thing whose lights begin blinking.
- Step 3
Match the owner's number
How many owners does flashing crosswalk beacons name? The sentence names more than one beacon, so the pronoun must refer to more than one owner. The form their shows ownership by more than one, giving us their lights begin blinking. Choice D.