Question 157·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
Kenyan novelist Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's _____ first staged for audiences in open-air courtyards and later adapted for radio, demonstrated how political critique could be carried through everyday speech.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For form, structure, and sense questions that involve punctuation, first strip the sentence to its core by mentally removing interrupting descriptive phrases. Once you find the main subject and main verb, decide whether the removed material is nonessential (set it off with commas) or essential (no commas). Then pick the option that preserves a single complete main clause without accidentally adding a second main verb.
Hints
Locate the main verb
Look for the verb that completes the whole sentence. It appears after the phrase about being staged and adapted.
Decide whether the long phrase is essential
Ask whether the sentence would still be complete and clear if you removed “first staged … adapted for radio.”
Avoid adding an extra main verb
If the blank includes a verb like were or had been, check whether that creates two separate main verbs in one sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the sentence’s main structure
Find the core sentence (subject + main verb). Here, the main verb is demonstrated.
Check what comes between the subject and the main verb
The phrase “first staged for audiences in open-air courtyards and later adapted for radio” describes the plays but is not required to identify which plays they are. It is a nonessential modifier, so it should be set off with commas.
Choose the option that creates correct punctuation without adding a second main verb
The blank must provide the subject plays and the comma that opens the nonessential modifier. The choice that does this is plays,.