Form, Structure, and Sense sample question 3

the ballet shocked its audience with unusual rhythms

SAT · Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions

Form, Structure, and Sense

Form, Structure, and Sense is part of Standard English Conventions in the SAT Reading and Writing section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Question types you will see here include agreement past an interrupter, agreement in inverted sentences, tense consistency and pronoun and antecedent agreement.

Common traps: verb matches the nearest noun, not the subject; plural verb for a singular head noun; singular verb for a compound subject.

Sample questions

Question 1
The results of the soil analysis that the field needs more nitrogen.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A.
  suggest
- B.
  has suggested
- C.
  suggests
- D.
  is suggesting
Answer: A. suggest
The subject is the plural noun "results," so the plural verb "suggest" is required.
Question 2
For the past three summers, Kofi at a sea turtle hatchery on the Ghanaian coast.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A.
  has volunteered
- B.
  had volunteered
- C.
  volunteers
- D.
  volunteered
Answer: A. has volunteered
"For the past three summers" describes a span reaching up to the present, so the present perfect "has volunteered" is required. "Volunteered" treats the action as finished, "volunteers" is the simple present and does not combine with a span ending now, and "had volunteered" places the action before some earlier past moment.
Question 3
First performed in 1913, .
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A.
  the audience was shocked by the ballet's unusual rhythms
- B.
  the ballet shocked its audience with unusual rhythms
- C.
  shocking its audience, the ballet had unusual rhythms
- D.
  unusual rhythms in the ballet shocked its audience
Answer: B. the ballet shocked its audience with unusual rhythms
The ballet was first performed in 1913, so "the ballet" must follow.
Question 4
In the poem "Chalk Roads," the lines that an old tailor, bent over his cutting table, sketches across a length of dark wool roads on a map, and the speaker follows each one as if it were a journey.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A.
  resembles
- B.
  has resembled
- C.
  resemble
- D.
  resembled
Answer: C. resemble
The subject is the plural “lines”; “that an old tailor … sketches across a length of dark wool” is a modifier, so the verb must be plural, and the present tense matches “follows” and “were”: “resemble” (C). “Resembles” (A) and “has resembled” (B) agree with the singular nouns nearby, and “resembled” (D) is past tense, clashing with the present narration.
Question 5
In Bunraku, each large puppet is moved by three puppeteers in full view of the audience. The skill of the puppeteers, who train for decades before operating a puppet's head and right arm, audiences to stop noticing them within minutes.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A.
  lead
- B.
  have led
- C.
  leads
- D.
  are leading
Answer: C. leads
The subject is the singular "skill," not "puppeteers," so the singular present (C) is needed, matching "is moved." (A), (B) and (D) are plural forms that agree with the nearer noun "puppeteers" or the plural nouns inside the interrupting clause.

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