SAT OwlQuestion bank / Form, Structure, and Sense
The statue of the river goddess in Corvell's town square took far longer to finish than anyone expected. Carved from a single block of marble over nearly three years, ______
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
the sculptor finally unveiled the statue in 1891.
the unveiling of the statue finally took place in 1891.
in 1891 the sculptor finally unveiled the statue.
the statue was finally unveiled in 1891.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
The opening phrase, "Carved from a single block of marble over nearly three years," describes the statue. A modifying phrase like this must be followed directly by the noun it describes, so the sentence must continue with "the statue," choice D.
Choice A is the most natural-sounding sentence, but it makes the sculptor the thing carved from marble.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This makes the sculptor the thing carved from marble, since "the sculptor" follows the opening phrase.
- B. This makes "the unveiling" the thing carved from marble, which is illogical.
- C. Moving "in 1891" to the front doesn't help. The sculptor still appears to be carved from marble.
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