Question 148·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
At the annual film festival, the committee premiered three restored silent films: The Wind, released in 1928; The Passion of Joan of Arc, released in 1928; and Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, released in _____ all accompanied by live orchestral scores.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For SAT boundaries questions, check what grammatical unit appears on each side of the blank. If the words after the blank are not an independent clause, eliminate the period and semicolon. Then decide whether the second part is a true introduction (colon) or just an added modifier; added descriptive phrases are typically attached with a comma.
Hints
Check whether the words after the blank can stand alone
Read only what comes after the blank: “all accompanied by live orchestral scores.” Does that have a subject and a verb that make it a complete sentence?
Recall what semicolons and periods require
A semicolon and a period create a break between complete sentences. If the part after the blank is not a complete sentence, can you use either one?
Decide what the phrase after the blank is doing
Is “all accompanied by live orchestral scores” starting something new (like a list/explanation), or is it just adding a descriptive detail about the films?
Pick the punctuation that links a modifier to a sentence
When a nonessential descriptive phrase is added onto a complete sentence, which punctuation mark most commonly and correctly connects it?
Step-by-step Explanation
Read the sentence with each choice
The blank comes right after “released in” and right before “all accompanied by live orchestral scores.” Each choice supplies the year and a punctuation mark.
Try reading the sentence with each option and focus on whether what follows the punctuation (“all accompanied by live orchestral scores”) can stand alone as a sentence.
Determine what comes after the blank
The portion after the blank is:
“all accompanied by live orchestral scores.”
This is a participial phrase describing the films; it does not have a subject and a finite verb (for example, it does not say “they were accompanied”), so it is not an independent clause.
Eliminate punctuation that would create an error
- A period would end the sentence, leaving “All accompanied by live orchestral scores” as a fragment.
- A semicolon must separate two independent clauses, but the words after the blank are not an independent clause.
So choices with a period or semicolon are incorrect.
Choose punctuation that correctly attaches the modifier
A colon typically introduces a list or explanation, but here the phrase “all accompanied by live orchestral scores” is simply an added descriptive modifier, not a new list or formal explanation.
A comma correctly attaches this modifying phrase to the sentence.
Therefore, the correct choice is 1927,.