Question 51·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
A recently declassified memorandum from 1974 recommends that emergency protocols for the nation's power grid _____ reviewed annually to ensure resilience against emerging threats.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For verb-form questions with a blank in a “that”-clause, first identify the main verb before “that.” If it is a verb of recommendation, request, or requirement (such as recommend, suggest, demand, insist, require), expect the mandative subjunctive: “that” + subject + base form of the verb (for example, “that the report be revised”). Then quickly eliminate options that are normal present tense (“is/are”) or -ing forms without a helping verb, and choose the bare verb that fits both the subject and the intended meaning of what should happen.
Hints
Look closely at the verb before the blank
Identify the main verb that comes right before the “that”-clause with the blank. How does the verb “recommends” affect the kind of verb form you should use in that clause?
Think about meaning: fact vs. recommendation
Decide whether the sentence is describing what already happens to the protocols or suggesting what should happen to them. Which type of verb form fits a suggestion or recommendation?
Check the pattern after “that”
After verbs like “recommend” followed by “that,” English often uses a specific pattern for what should happen. Try each option in the sentence and see which one sounds most natural and formally correct in a recommendation from an official memorandum.
Step-by-step Explanation
Locate the clause with the blank
Focus on the part of the sentence that includes the blank:
“A recently declassified memorandum from 1974 recommends that emergency protocols for the nation's power grid _____ reviewed annually to ensure resilience against emerging threats.”
The blank is in a clause that starts with “that” and comes after the verb “recommends.” This is the clause you must complete correctly.
Understand the meaning and structure
Ask what the sentence is doing: Is it describing what already happens, or suggesting what should happen?
Here, a memorandum “recommends” a procedure. That means the sentence is expressing what ought to happen (a recommendation), not reporting a current fact.
Recall the pattern after verbs like “recommend”
In formal Standard English, after verbs like recommend, suggest, insist, demand, require followed by “that,” we typically use the base form of the verb (often called the subjunctive) to express what should happen.
So the pattern is:
- “recommends that” + subject + base verb + rest of the sentence.
Here, the subject is “emergency protocols,” and the main verb that goes with it should be the base form of “be” before “reviewed annually.”
Test the choices for grammar and meaning
Now test each option:
- “are reviewed” – normal present tense statement, sounds like a fact, not a recommendation structure.
- “is reviewed” – also a fact statement, and it mismatches the plural subject “protocols.”
- “being reviewed” – needs a helping verb (“are being” or “is being”) that isn’t in the sentence.
- “be reviewed” – uses the base form after “recommends that,” which is the correct mandative/subjunctive structure and matches the intended recommendation meaning.
Therefore, the correct answer is B) be.