Standard English Conventions (Boundaries)

1- The Alvarez theory, developed in 1980 by physicist Luis Walter Alvarez and his geologist
son Walter Alvarez, maintained that the secondary effects of an asteroid impact caused many
dinosaurs and other animals to die ______ it left unexplored the question of whether unrelated
volcanic activity might have also contributed to the mass extinctions.

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

A. out but
B. out, but
C. out
D. out,

2- While many video game creators strive to make their graphics ever more ______ others look
to the past, developing titles with visuals inspired by the “8-bit” games of the 1980s and
1990s. (The term “8-bit” refers to a console whose processor could only handle eight bits of
data at once.)

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

A. lifelike but
B. lifelike
C. lifelike,
D. lifelike, but

3- At eight paragraphs long, the preamble to the constitution of ______ country in Western
Asia—is much longer than the one-paragraph preamble to the United States Constitution.

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

A. Bahrain—a
B. Bahrain, a
C. Bahrain a
D. Bahrain: a
4- Within Earth's biomes, there are four main types of desert: arid, semiarid. coastal, and cold.
The Puntland Desert in eastern Africa is an arid ……………………. it is one of the largest such
deserts in the world, with a total area of about 200,000 km.

a. desert, for example;

b. desert, for example,
c. desert, for example
d. desert; for example,

5- "Coalition" is the term for a group of male ………………… across the Greater Kruger National
Park of South Africa, many coalitions vie for territory. Between 2006 and 2012, the lions of the
Mapogo coalition-including Pretty Boy, Kinky Tail, and Makhulu—thrived within a part of the
park called the Sabi Sands.

a. Lions
b. Lions,
c. Lions and
d. Lions, and

6- Deposits of crushed coral and other organic matter lend the sand at Les Sables Roses
Beach in French Polynesia an unusual pink tint that dazzles …………….. they take a bit of sand
home, though, it disturbs the beach's ecosystem by contributing to erosion.

a. visitors, when
b. visitors. When
c. visitors and when
d. visitors when

7- Photosynthesis, the mechanism by which plants use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and
water into ______ is fueled in part by an enzyme called Photosystem II that harvests energy-
giving electrons from water molecules.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. nutrients
B. nutrients and
C. nutrients,
D. nutrients—
8- Long attributed to Jacques-Louis David, the preeminent Neoclassical painter of his day, the
1801 painting Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d'Ognes gained fresh attention in the 1990s
when art historians discovered that the painting-which depicts a solitary young woman
sketching—was actually the work of little-known French portrait ……….. Marie-Denise Villers
(1774-1821).

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

a) artist-
b) artist
c) artist:
d) artist,

9- A recent study tracked the number of bee species present in twenty-seven New York apple
orchards over a ten-year period. ______ found that when wild growth near an orchard was
cleared, the number of different bee species visiting the orchard decreased.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

A. Entomologist Heather Grab:

B. Entomologist, Heather Grab,
C. Entomologist Heather Grab
D. Entomologist Heather Grab,

10- Along the hallowed walls of New York City's Museum of Modern Art hangs 45.1-by-34.0-
inch oil .…………. which was created in 1957 by American artist René Robert Bouché.

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

a) painting, Georges Braque,

b) painting, Georges Braque
c) painting Georges Braque,
d) painting Georges Braque
11- Researchers studying magnetosensation have determined why some soil-dwelling
roundworms in the Southern Hemisphere move in the opposite direction of Earth’s magnetic
field when searching for ______ in the Northern Hemisphere, the magnetic field points down,
into the ground, but in the Southern Hemisphere, it points up, toward the surface and away
from worms’ food sources.

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

A. food:
B. food,
C. food while
D. food

12- A group of ecologists led by Axel Mithöfer at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical
Ecology in Germany examined the defensive responses of two varieties of the sweet
potato ______ TN57, which is known for its insect resistance, and TN66, which is much more
susceptible to pests.

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

A. plant.
B. plant;
C. plant
D. plant:

13- The Lion Light system, developed by Kenyan inventor Richard Turere, consists of LED
lights installed around the perimeter of livestock pastures. Powered with ______ the blinking
LEDs keep lions away at night, thus protecting the livestock without risking harm to the
endangered lions.

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

A. energy collected, by solar panels, during the day

B. energy collected by solar panels during the day
C. energy collected by solar panels during the day,
D. energy, collected by solar panels during the day,
14- How do scientists determine what foods were eaten by extinct hominins such as
Neanderthals? In the past, researchers were limited to studying the marks found on the
fossilized teeth of skeletons, but in 2017 a team led by Laura Weyrich of the Australian Centre
for Ancient DNA tried something ______ the DNA found in Neanderthals’ fossilized dental
plaque.

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

A. new: sequencing
B. new; sequencing
C. new, sequencing:
D. new. Sequencing

15- Luci Tapahonso is the inaugural poet laureate of the Navajo Nation. Her book Sáanii
Dahataal/The Women Are Singing—a combination of fiction and memoir, poetry
and ______ serves as a testament to her versatility as a writer.

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

A. prose;
B. prose
C. prose,
D. prose—

16- A conceptual artist and designer embraced by both the art world and the
fashion ______ Mary Ping was chosen to curate the exhibition Front Row: Chinese American
Designers for the Museum of Chinese in America.

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

A. world
B. world:
C. world;
D. world,
17- Po’Pay was a Tewa leader from Ohkay Owingeh, a pueblo located about twenty-five miles
north of present-day Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was instrumental in organizing the Pueblo
Revolt of ______ as a result of his leadership, the Spanish colonizers were expelled from the
region for a time.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. 1680
B. 1680 and
C. 1680,
D. 1680, and

18- With some 16,000 in attendance, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts
and ______ or FESTAC ‘77, as the event was more commonly known—became the largest pan-
African event on record. FESTAC drew people from around the world to Lagos, Nigeria, for a
monthlong celebration of Black and African art, scholarship, and activism.

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

A. Culture:
B. Culture—
C. Culture,
D. Culture

19- In 1959, marine biologist Dr. Albert Jones founded the Underwater Adventure Seekers, a
scuba diving ______ that is the oldest club for Black divers in the United States and that has
helped thousands of diving enthusiasts become certified in the field.

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

A. club
B. club,
C. club—
D. club, and
20- Detroit natives Timothy Paule and Nicole Lindsey have combined their two passions,
Detroit and beekeeping, to improve the health of their city’s flowers and other vegetation. In
2017, the couple converted a vacant lot in the city into an ______ in the years that followed
they acquired nine additional lots and established more than 35 hives.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A. apiary,
B. apiary, and
C. apiary and
D. apiary