SAT Reading and Writing · Topic 4.1
Boundaries: Punctuation and Sentence Structure Practice
Part of Standard English Conventions.
Practice questions
291
Sample questions
5 of 291 — sign in to practice the rest with adaptive difficulty and mastery tracking.
Sample 1difficulty 2/5
Bees pollinate the majority of flowering plants worldwide ______ their declining populations threaten global food production.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A
; so,
- Bcheck_circle
, so
- C
, so,
- D
so
Why
Comma plus FANBOYS "so" joins two independent clauses showing causation. " so" is a run-on; the others are over-punctuated.
- A
Sample 2difficulty 2/5
The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter ______ it contains millions of rocky bodies of various sizes.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- Acheck_circle
, and
- B
and,
- C
, and,
- D
and
Why
Comma plus "and" joins two independent clauses. " and" produces a run-on without the necessary comma between long clauses; the others are over-punctuated.
- A
Sample 3difficulty 2/5
Honeybees communicate the location of food sources through a complex series of movements ______ the so-called "waggle dance."
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- Acheck_circle
, which is known as
- B
, knowing it as
- C
: and known as
- D
. Known as
Why
", which is known as" properly attaches a relative clause. ". Known as" creates a fragment; ": and known as" is ungrammatical; ", knowing it as" misuses the participle.
- A
Sample 4difficulty 2/5
The river had been polluted for decades ______ but the cleanup effort, led by a coalition of local groups, has restored it to near-pristine condition.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A
(empty)
- B
:
- Ccheck_circle
,
- D
;
Why
Two independent clauses joined by "but" take a comma before "but."
- A
Sample 5difficulty 2/5
Following the discovery of penicillin in 1928 ______ the development of antibiotics transformed twentieth-century medicine.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A
;
- B
:
- Ccheck_circle
,
- D
(empty)
Why
The introductory prepositional phrase "Following the discovery of penicillin in 1928" should be followed by a comma.
- A