Boundares Test- 2 - SAT MCQ

Choice A. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "A subseasonal…advance" and the clause "its predictions…forecast" are both independent clauses, so the word "and" by itself is not enough to separate them. There would need to be a comma before "and" for this choice to work.

Choice B. This is the best choice. The clause "A subseasonal…advance" and the clause "its predictions…forecast" are both independent clauses, so using a semicolon to separate them is grammatically correct.

Choice C. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "A subseasonal…advance" and the clause "its predictions…forecast" are both independent clauses, so a comma is not enough to separate them.

Choice D. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "A subseasonal…advance" and the clause "its predictions…forecast" are both independent clauses, so they need to be separated with specific punctuation (a period, a semi-colon, a colon, a dash, or a comma + a coordinating conjunction).

Choice A. This is the best choice. "Marie tharp" is essential information that completes the first clause — the first clause doesn't function without it. So we don't want to separate it with punctuation.

Choice B. This choice creates a punctuation error. "The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist" is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the "Marie Tharp" for clarity, which means it's essential information and should not be separated by a colon.

Choice C. This choice creates a punctuation error. "The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist" is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the "Marie Tharp" for clarity, which means it's essential information and should not be separated by a semicolon.

Choice D. This choice creates a punctuation error. "The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist" is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the "Marie Tharp" for clarity, which means it's essential information and should not be separated by a comma.

Choice A. This is the best choice. The clause before the colon tells us that the novel "asks a question", so the clause after the colon should be in the conventional form of a question: with the verb before the subject, and a question mark at the end.

Choice B. This choice doesn't conform to the conventions of Standard English. In Standard English, questions place the verb before the subject.

Choice C. This choice ends the sentence with a period, which isn't right. The clause before the colon tells us that the novel "asks a question", so the clause after the colon should be that question.

Choice D. This choice ends the sentence with a period, which isn't right. The clause before the colon tells us that the novel "asks a question", so the clause after the colon should be that question. In Standard English, questions place the verb before the subject and end with a question mark.

Choice A. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "Like an Elvis impersonator…real thing" and the clause "it is…look-alike" are both independent clauses, so they need to be separated with at least a comma + a coordinating conjunction. This choice provides a comma, but it's missing a coordinating conjunction.

Choice B. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "Like an Elvis impersonator…real thing" and the clause "it is…look-alike" are both independent clauses, so they need to be separated with a semicolon, a colon, a dash, a period, or a comma + a coordinating conjunction.

Choice C. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. The clause "Like an Elvis impersonator…real thing" and the clause "it is…look-alike" are both independent clauses, so they need to be separated with at least a comma + a coordinating conjunction. This choice provides the coordinating conjunction "but", but it's missing a comma.

Choice D. This is the best choice. The clause "Like an Elvis impersonator…real thing" and the clause "it is…look-alike" are both independent clauses, so making them into two separate sentences is grammatically correct.

Choice A. This is the best choice. "That is…field" is an essential supplement, so we should not use punctuation to separate it from "scuba diving club".

Choice B. This choice creates a run-on sentence. It makes "that is…United States" into an awkward independent clause, but it also makes "that has…field" into its own awkward independent clause without the correct punctuation separating it.

Choice C. This choice creates a punctuation error. "That is…field" is an essential supplement, so we should not use a dash (or any kind of punctuation) to separate it from "scuba diving club".

Choice D. This choice creates a punctuation error. "That is…field" is an essential supplement, so we should not use a comma (or any kind of punctuation) to separate it from "scuba diving club".

Choice A. This choice creates a punctuation error. Notice that "the sanctity of animal life" is the first item in a list of three things. While semicolons are sometimes used to separate list items, this list uses commas to separate the other list items, and lists must use the same punctuation throughout.

Choice B. This choice creates a punctuation error. Notice that "the sanctity of animal life" is the first item in a list of three things. While colons can be used to introduce lists, they can't be used to separate items within a list.

Choice C. This choice creates a punctuation error. Notice that "the sanctity of animal life" is the first item in a list of three things. To appropriately format the list, we need punctuation to separate each item.

Choice D. This is the best choice. Notice that "the sanctity of animal life" is the first item in a list of three things. We must use a comma to separate the first two items in the list, just as a comma is used to separate "the just treatment of the elderly" and "the abolition of the slave trade".

Choice A. This choice creates a punctuation error. "Openness to experience" is not an independent clause, so it can't follow a semicolon.

Choice B. This choice creates a confusing, ungrammatical sentence. "There was one personality trait that they scored particularly high on" is an independent clause, so it needs to be separated from "openness to experience" with some kind of punctuation.

Choice C. This choice creates a sentence fragment. "On openness to experience" is not an independent clause, so it can't stand by itself as a separate sentence.

Choice D. This is the best choice. "There was one personality trait that they scored particularly high on" is an independent clause, and "openness to experience" is just a noun phrase that elaborates on the independent clause. A colon fits this context perfectly: it's one of the only punctuation marks that can correctly separate an independent clause from an elaborating incomplete clause.

Choice A. This is the best choice. The phrase "according to Swentzell" is an aside that interrupts the flow of the sentence, so it needs to be separated from the sentence with a pair of matching punctuation marks: two commas, two dashes, or a pair of parentheses. We already have a comma before "according", so we must add a comma after "Swentzell".

Choice B. This choice creates a punctuation error. "The arrangement of the figures, according to Swentzell" is not an independent clause, so it can't come before a colon.

Choice C. This choice creates a punctuation error. The phrase "according to Swentzell" is an aside that interrupts the flow of the sentence, so it needs to be separated from the sentence with a pair of matching punctuation marks: one before and one after the phrase.

Choice D. This choice creates a punctuation error. The phrase "according to Swentzell" is an aside that interrupts the flow of the sentence, so it needs to be separated from the sentence with a pair of matching punctuation marks. We already have a comma at the beginning, so we have to use another comma here to match. We can't just switch to a dash!

Choice A. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. Also, "In her book…themes of" is not an independent clause, thanks to the dangling "of" at the end, so it can't precede a single dash.

Choice B. This is the best choice. "Themes of childhood" is one noun phrase, with "themes of" implicitly carrying over to the other items on the list ("themes of childhood, [themes of] womanhood, and [themes of] Chinese American identity").

Choice C. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. Also, "In her book…themes of" is not an independent clause, thanks to the dangling "of" at the end, so it can't precede a colon.

Choice D. This choice inappropriately breaks up the introduction of a list. "Themes of" implicitly carries over to each item on the list ("themes of childhood, [themes of] womanhood, and [themes of] Chinese American identity"), so we don't want to use a comma to separate it.

Choice A. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. "As Spivak…novel" is independent, and "as the recipient…it" is also independent. We can't link them without punctuation.

Choice B. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. "As Spivak…novel" is independent, and "as the recipient…it" is also independent. A comma by itself isn't enough to link them.

Choice C. This is the best choice. "As Spivak…novel" is independent, and "rather, as the recipient…it" is also independent, so it's correct to link them with a semicolon.

Choice D. This choice creates a run-on sentence error. "As Spivak…novel" is independent, and "rather, as the recipient…it" is also independent. A comma by itself isn't enough to link them.