Mr. Osama Ahmad February 17, 2025 11 min read

College Board Blue Book | Test 7 | Module 2 Hard | Domain 4 | Questions15-22 | Grammar Rules

Digital SAT Reading and Writing: Punctuation, Modifiers, and Transitions (Test 7, Module 2)

TTA Pro: Guide to Digital SAT Reading and Writing - Punctuation and Modifiers

Welcome back, beautiful people, to TTA Pro, Mr. O back with another episode. Today, we'll be reviewing the College Board Blue Book app test number seven. We're going to be working on domain number four, the grammar and punctuation portion, we'll be discussing rules, tips, and tricks and how to solve these questions.

Digital SAT Hard Module 2 Reading and Writing Questions

Question 15.

Nigerian American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola uses black-ink pens to create highly detailed drawings of human figures. Her portrait of novelist Zadie _______ is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) Smith:

(B) Smith—

(C) Smith

(D) Smith,

This is a punctuation based question. Now, with punctuation you have a few options. Option number one, look for fragments. Option number two, eliminate run-ons. Option number three, eliminate comma splices. And then you have other options as well, but let's begin with these options.

If you look at the sentence here, "Her portrait of novelist Zadie ______ is displayed in the National Portrait Gallery in London." You have the portrait is the subject, is displayed is the verb. You cannot separate the subject from the verb with punctuation. So A gives us a subject colon verb fragment, wrong. B, subject dash verb, fragment, wrong. My answer is C, that is the correct answer. D, subject comma verb, fragment, wrong. So here we're going to go with answer C.

Strategy: Subject Verb Agreement

You cannot separate a subject from its verb with punctuation.

Question 16.

A government body officially known as the Althing, ______.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) the world’s oldest parliaments include one which first met in 930 CE, Iceland’s.

(B) Iceland’s parliament is one of the oldest in the world, first meeting in 930 CE.

(C) the first meeting of one of the oldest parliaments in the world, Iceland’s, was in 930 CE.

(D) 930 CE was the year when Iceland’s parliament, one of the oldest parliaments in the world, first met.

This is a modifier question. A government body officially known as the Althing, this is a modifier, it describes. So remember the structure: modifier, comma, subject and verb. That subject needs to be the subject of the modifier, meaning that it needs to tell us what is the government body.

Answer Choice Analysis:

  • (A) the world’s oldest parliaments include one which first met in 930 CE, Iceland’s.
    Incorrect. "the world's oldest parliaments" is plural. We need a singular subject to match "A government body."
  • (B) Iceland’s parliament is one of the oldest in the world, first meeting in 930 CE.
    Correct. "Iceland's parliament" is a government body.
  • (C) the first meeting of one of the oldest parliaments in the world, Iceland’s, was in 930 CE.
    Incorrect. "the first meeting" is not a government body.
  • (D) 930 CE was the year when Iceland’s parliament, one of the oldest parliaments in the world, first met.
    Incorrect. "930 CE" is a year, not a government body.

The correct answer is (B).

Strategy: Modifiers

The noun directly after the comma must be what the modifier describes.

Question 17.

As the fourteenth US librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden has many responsibilities. These include overseeing the Library of Congress’s collections, which boast more than 162 million items; the US Copyright Office, which registers copyright claims and advises Congress on copyright law; and appointing the US poet laureate.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) items managing

(B) items, managing

(C) items; managing

(D) items. Managing

Here if we look closely at the structure of this sentence, we see that this is a semicolon list; that is because the items in the list themselves have commas in them, with the library of Congress's collections, which boasts more than 162 million items, being the first. The next item starts with the U.S. Copyright Office, which registers copyright claims and advises Congress on copyright law, and the third is appointing the US poet laureate. So, since there are commas in the first and second item, we seperate the items with semicolons and end with an "and".

Strategy: Semicolon List

Remember the structure: semicolon, semicolon, and.

Question 18.

Recently unearthed Neronian tools in France dating to 54,000 years ago and attributed to Homo Sapiens may provide evidence that interactions between Neanderthals and modern humans occurred 10,000 years earlier than was previously ______ finding that, if true, would overturn current theories about H. Sapiens migration during the Upper Paleolithic.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) supposed; a

(B) supposed. A

(C) supposed a

(D) supposed, a

Another punctuation question. That the geographic center of North America lay in the state of North Dakota was conceded by all establishing its precise coordinates proved more divisive. We have an independent clause and we are looking for a word to connect to a dependent clause so a comma with no conjuction is what we are looking for, so the answer is D.

Ind

, a

Dep

Here is the structure of an independent clause followed by a non-essential clause.

Strategy: Independent and Dependent Clauses

Know how to connect independent and dependent clauses.

Question 19.

Digital artist Jung (Lulu) Chen primarily uses a suite of software tools to create illustrations for children’s books. To manifest the warm and welcoming atmospheres that are a signature of her ______ she occasionally relies on more traditional art techniques, such as painting with watercolors.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) work, though,

(B) work, though

(C) work; though,

(D) work, though;

Another punctuation question. To manifest the warm and welcoming atmospheres that are a signature of her work, though, she occasionally relies on more traditional art techniques such as painting with watercolours.. The first is a dependent clause and we know this because it is followed by though, thus, we can eliminate C and D. This is because to connect two independent clauses we would need a semicolon and a comma or a period, or a comma with a conjunction and though isn't a conjunction. This leaves us with only a comma to seperate an independent and a dependent clause.

Strategy: Punctuation

Remember that punctuation marks like a colon, a dash, and a semicolon followed by a comma can all be used in very similar circumstances.

Question 20.

Chondrites are stony meteorites that are undifferentiated—that is, their contents have not melted and separated into distinct layers. They are hardly______ many chondrites experience aqueous alteration as a result of exposure to fluids, as well as fracturing, veining, and localized melting due to collisions with other objects.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) pristine, though

(B) pristine, though;

(C) pristine: though

(D) pristine, though,

Another punctuation question. They are hardly______ many chondrites experience aqueous alteration as a result of exposure to fluids, as well as fracturing, veining, and localized melting due to collisions with other objects.. This is one independent idea, followed by another. Looking at the answer choices, there is no "and" so we know that a comma on its own will not work. We need a semicolon.

Here, our answer is B.

Ind; Ind

Strategy: Punctuation

Know when to use a semicolon to connect two ideas.

Question 21.

That the geographic center of North America lay in the state of North Dakota was conceded by all ______ establishing its precise coordinates proved more divisive.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

(A) involved:

(B) involved.

(C) involved

(D) involved;

Another punctuation question. That the geographic center of North America lay in the state of North Dakota was conceded by all, this is an independent idea. establishing its precise coordinates proved more divisive. This is an independent idea. A could work, B cannot work. You cannot use a comma between two independent ideas, C is wrong on sentence, D can work. So what is the difference between A and D? A, it gives us an elaboration, an explanation. D gives us like a whole new idea. And so we're not giving an elaboration. We're talking about where it is and how the actual coordinates, there's a lot of contention there. So here we're going to go with answer D. We're going to go with answer D.

Ind

------

Ind

Here is the structure of an independent clause followed by another independent clause.

Ind, a

------

Dep

Here is the structure of an independent clause followed by a dependent clause.

Strategy: Independent and Dependent Clauses

Know how to connect independent and dependent clauses.

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