Question 87·200 Super-Hard SAT Reading Questions·Standard English Conventions
To win support for an election-administration bill, committee negotiators added a provision allowing states to request waivers from a new reporting rule. The provision satisfied several governors who had opposed an earlier version of the ______ continued to insist that the reporting rule be removed entirely.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For a boundaries question containing “however,” do not automatically choose the familiar pattern “; however,”. First identify each clause's subject and verb. Then place the clause-separating punctuation where one complete clause ends, keeping the subject and verb of the next clause together and treating “however” as a removable interrupter.
Hints
Find the clause structure
Locate the subjects and main verbs on both sides of the blank.
Temporarily remove the interrupter
Read the sentence without “however” and determine which words form the subject and verb of the second clause.
Check the semicolon's position
A semicolon may separate independent clauses, but it should not separate a subject from its verb.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the first independent clause
The first clause has the subject “The provision” and the verb “satisfied.” The relative clause beginning with “who” modifies “governors,” so the first independent clause ends with “proposal.”
Identify the second independent clause
The second clause has the subject “a bloc of legislators” and the verb “continued.” The word “however” interrupts this clause and must be set off with commas.
Separate the clauses correctly
Because both parts are independent clauses, a semicolon can separate them. It must appear before the subject of the second clause, not between that subject and its verb.