The soundtrack to Mira Nair’s 1991 film Mississippi Masala expressively captures the clashing of cultures that happens when ______ blank

Question

The soundtrack to Mira Nair&rsquo;s 1991 film Mississippi Masala expressively captures the clashing of cultures that happens when ______ blank (a young Pakistani woman from Uganda and a young African American man from Mississippi) meet. Featured throughout the film are songs from Uganda&rsquo;s Afrigo Band, the Pakistani composer L. Subramaniam, and the Mississippi blues musician Sam Chatmon. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Accepted Answer

Choice D is the best answer. The conventions being tested are the use of possessive determiners and the use of plural nouns. The singular possessive determiner "its"-which agrees in number with the singular noun phrase "Mira Nair&rsquo;s 1991 film Mississippi Masala "-and the plural noun "protagonists" correctly indie that Nair&rsquo;s film has multiple protagonists. Choice A is incorrect because "it&rsquo;s" is the contraction for "it is," not a possessive determiner. Choice B is incorrect because the context requires the plural noun "protagonists," not the singular possessive noun "protagonist&rsquo;s." Choice C is incorrect because the context requires the possessive determiner "its" and the plural noun "protagonists," not the contraction "it&rsquo;s" or the singular possessive noun "protagonist&rsquo;s."

Question the-so