In director Amina Kader’s adaptation of Jonah Pell’s novel The Cartographer’s Wake, dreamlike interludes containing recurring images of stopped clocks and vacant platforms interrupt the protagonist’s otherwise chronological account. Not until the final scene, when the images are revealed to be fragments of a suppressed memory, _____ clear that the interludes trace the protagonist’s effort to reconstruct the past.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
When a sentence begins with a negative or restrictive expression such as “not until,” “never,” or “only then,” check whether the main clause requires subject-auxiliary inversion. After selecting the correct word order, verify that a main verb following a form of “do” appears in its base form.
Hints
Examine the opening phrase
Consider how beginning a sentence with the restrictive negative phrase “Not until” affects the word order of the main clause.
Check subject-auxiliary order
Determine whether the auxiliary should appear before or after the subject in the clause following the introductory construction.
Check the main verb’s form
When a form of “do” serves as an auxiliary, identify which form of the main verb must follow it.
Step-by-step Explanation
Recognize the fronted negative construction
The sentence begins with the restrictive negative phrase “Not until the final scene.” When this type of phrase is moved to the beginning of a sentence, the main clause requires subject-auxiliary inversion.
Invert the auxiliary and subject
Instead of the ordinary declarative order “it becomes clear,” the clause must place an auxiliary before the subject: “does it ... clear.”
Use the base verb after the auxiliary
After the auxiliary “does,” the main verb must be in its base form, “become,” not the third-person singular form “becomes.” Therefore, “does it become” completes the sentence correctly.