Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? Officials decline to enumerate every ______ too much would hand adversaries a map of Canadian vulnerabilities.

contingency, in fact, revealing

Reading & Writing · Free questions

SAT punctuation & boundaries practice questions

Boundaries questions — commas, semicolons, colons, dashes — are the most rule-bound points in Reading & Writing. A handful of rules covers every question the SAT can ask. Practice them free below.

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SAT Reading & Writing practice · SAT punctuation & boundaries practice questions

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Reading & Writing · Easy

At the root of his sound sits the rhythm that has governed Latin American pop for a generation: reggaeton, a lean marriage of dancehall and rap that can start a party with little more than a drum machine and a voice. It first took shape as the soundtrack of working-class life in Puerto Rico, and he claims that birthright in his verses, reminding listeners that the island made both him and the genre.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?<br><br>'It first took shape as the soundtrack of working-class life in Puerto ______ he claims that birthright in his verses, reminding listeners that the island made both him and the genre.'

Reading & Writing · Medium

The very first of these rooms, Blackbird, opened near the University of Tokyo in 1929, built around American jazz records that had drifted in on ships docking at ports such as Yokohama. Wartime censors banned the music outright, but it returned once American servicemen stationed near Tokyo began bringing records over in the 1950s. For years afterward, kissa owners served a genuinely practical function: few jazz musicians toured Japan before the 1960s, and imported records cost a fortune, so proprietors built collections and educated their customers, earning the honorific title sensei along the way. The scene exploded after drummer Art Blakey's recording Moanin' became a surprise hit, followed by his celebrated January 1961 tour of Japan; more than 800 kissas eventually opened across the country. Novelist Haruki Murakami, before he was famous, wrote his first three novels while running his own jazz bar, Peter Cat, from 1974 to 1981.

Novelist Haruki Murakami ______ wrote his first three novels while running his own jazz bar, Peter Cat, from 1974 to 1981. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Reading & Writing · Hard

Officials decline to enumerate every contingency. Saying too much would hand adversaries a map of Canadian vulnerabilities, and almost nobody wants to provoke Mr Trump; few will speak on the record at all. Yet the file of worst cases, however improbable, now includes incursions by America.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?<br><br>Officials decline to enumerate every ______ too much would hand adversaries a map of Canadian vulnerabilities.

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How the SAT tests this skill

The SAT tests whether you can see where one complete thought ends and another begins. A semicolon joins two complete sentences; a colon needs a complete sentence before it; a comma alone can never join two complete sentences — that's the comma splice, the test's favorite wrong answer.

The reliable method is mechanical: read up to the punctuation mark and ask "is this a complete sentence?", then read after it and ask again. The two yes/no answers dictate which marks are legal, no ear for grammar required.

Semicolons, colons, and dashes between clauses
Comma splices and run-ons — spotting and fixing them
Nonessential clauses set off by paired commas or dashes
Punctuation around transitions like however and therefore

Pro tip: When two choices differ only by semicolon vs. comma, check both sides of the mark for a subject and a verb. Complete + complete means the comma is wrong — every time.

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Upcoming SAT test dates

Plan backwards from your test date: most students want 8–12 weeks of practice before sitting the exam.

Test date	Registration deadline
August 22, 2026	August 7, 2026
September 12, 2026	August 28, 2026
October 3, 2026	September 18, 2026
November 7, 2026	October 23, 2026
December 5, 2026	November 20, 2026
March 6, 2027	February 19, 2027
May 1, 2027	April 16, 2027
June 5, 2027	May 21, 2027

Dates are synced from College Board's published schedule; always confirm deadlines at satsuite.collegeboard.org before registering.

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