Question in-win
In winter, the diets of Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, are influenced more by food availability than by food preference. Although the monkeys prefer to eat vegetation and land-dwelling invertebrates, those food sources may become unavailable because of extensive snow and ice cover, blank the monkeys to hunt for marine animals in any streams that have not frozen over.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
forcing
forced
forces
to force
In winter, the diets of Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, are influenced more by
Medium-difficulty · SAT Reading & Writing · Form, Structure, and Sense — Modifier placement and clarity. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of finite and nonfinite verb forms within a sentence. The nonfinite present participle “forcing” is correctly used to form a participial phrase that supplements the main clause “those...cover,” describing the effects on monkeys of the lack of food sources.
Choice A is incorrect because the finite present tense verb “forces” can’t be used in this way to supplement the main clause (“those...cover”). Choice B is incorrect. While the nonfinite to-infinitive “to force” could be used to form a subordinate clause that supplements the main clause (“those...cover”), to-infinitives conventionally express purpose, and nothing in the sentence suggests that the food sources become unavailable for the purpose of forcing monkeys to hunt marine animals. Choice D is incorrect because the finite past tense verb “forced” can’t be used in this way to supplement the main clause (“those...cover”).
More Form, Structure, and Sense practice questions
- In 1929, Edwin Herbert Land invented a polarizing filter that was featured in a
- The Globe Theatre in London is a reconstruction of the famed venue where many
- The radiation that ______ blank during the decay of radioactive atomic nuclei is known
- Earth is not a perfect sphere. Due to the ______ blank gravitational pull, Earth
- Slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo’s debut novel The Poet X , winner of the 2018
- Increased gender diversity is revitalizing the field of economics, according to
- In 1903, environmentalist John Muir guided President Theodore Roosevelt on a scenic,
- Woven from recycled yarn and hand tufted using a carpet weaving technique passed down
Browse all Expression of Ideas practice questions or return to the full SAT question bank.