Question 164·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
Reading Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day alongside Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier, critic Imani ______ each novel's first-person account protects its teller from painful knowledge even as it gradually discloses that knowledge to readers, characterizes the narrators' evasions as structural principles rather than merely personal flaws.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For sentences with long interrupting phrases, first remove the extra details and identify the basic subject-verb structure. Once the main verb is located, reject choices that introduce an additional main verb without a conjunction. Then check whether a modifying phrase needs commas on both sides.
Hints
Find the core action
Determine which verb states what the critic does to the narrators' evasions.
Ignore embedded verbs
The verbs “protects” and “discloses” belong to the clause about each novel's account; neither is the main verb of the whole sentence.
Examine the interruption
Consider whether the material between the critic's name and “characterizes” should function as a main predicate or as extra information about the critic.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the sentence's core
Temporarily remove the material about the novels' first-person accounts. The core sentence is “critic Imani Brooks characterizes the narrators' evasions as structural principles rather than merely personal flaws.” Thus, “characterizes” is the main verb.
Choose the appropriate verb form
Because the sentence already has the main verb “characterizes,” the blank should not introduce another main verb. The form “arguing” creates a modifying phrase that provides additional information about Brooks.
Check the punctuation
The phrase beginning with “arguing” interrupts the main clause, so it must be set off with commas: one after “Brooks” and the existing comma after “readers.”