Question 106·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring was published in 1962, but the book that many readers know today is the result of later editorial work: in the 1987 anniversary edition, Carson’s notes and correspondence were incorporated into the text. These extensive _____ archival annotations and the restoration of several deleted passages, clarified how urgently Carson wanted policymakers to respond to pesticide use.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For form/structure questions, first identify the sentence’s core grammar: subject + main verb. Then decide whether the words after the blank should be an essential verb phrase (action) or a nonessential modifier giving examples or extra detail. If a main verb already appears later (here, clarified), choose an option (often with including) that adds information without introducing a second main verb.
Hints
Find the main verb
Look for the verb that completes the subject “These extensive …” later in the sentence.
Check what follows the blank
The phrase after the blank lists items. Ask whether that list should be examples (extra information) or a new action with its own verb.
Avoid two full verbs
If the blank adds a verb like included or include, read the sentence again and see whether you now have two main verbs without and or another connector.
Step-by-step Explanation
Locate the sentence’s main clause
Identify the subject and the main verb that should complete the thought. Here, the subject is These extensive (something), and the sentence already has a main verb later: clarified.
Decide what the blank must do
The words after the blank (“archival annotations and the restoration of several deleted passages”) are examples of the revisions, not a new action the revisions performed. So the blank should introduce a descriptive, nonessential example phrase (often signaled by including) rather than add another finite verb like included or include.
Eliminate choices that create two main verbs
Any option that makes include/included/would include a main verb will leave the sentence with two main verbs (include and clarified) without a conjunction, which is not correct.
Choose the option that keeps “clarified” as the only main verb
Only revisions, including correctly uses a comma plus the participle including to add examples while keeping clarified as the sentence’s main verb.
Correct answer: revisions, including