SAT OwlQuestion bank / Form, Structure, and Sense
Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings emerge from their nests on sandy beaches at night and ______ toward the brightest horizon, which on an undeveloped beach is usually the moonlit ocean.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
crawling
having crawled
to crawl
crawl
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
The subject "hatchlings" has two verbs joined by "and": "emerge" and the verb in the blank. Both must be finite and in the same form, so the plural present-tense "crawl" matches "emerge."
Choice A sounds natural, but "emerge ... and crawling" breaks the parallel structure of the two verbs.
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