Bluebook SAT Test Form, Structure, and Sense 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The jury _______ its verdict after six hours of deliberation.
- announced (Correct answer)
- have announced
- were announcing
- are announcing
Correct answer: announced
'Jury' is a collective noun used as singular in American English, and simple past 'announced' correctly fits the past-tense narrative context.
Question 2: Everyone on the swim team _______ expected to attend morning practice on weekdays.
- are
- is (Correct answer)
- were
- have been
Correct answer: is
'Everyone' is an indefinite pronoun that always takes a singular verb; 'is' is correct.
Question 3: The author, as well as her editors, _______ pleased with the final manuscript.
- were
- are
- was (Correct answer)
- have been
Correct answer: was
'As well as' introduces a parenthetical phrase that doesn't change the subject; 'author' is singular, so 'was' is correct.
Question 4: The athletes trained hard every day so that _______ could compete at the highest level.
- he or she
- they (Correct answer)
- one
- it
Correct answer: they
'Athletes' is a plural antecedent, requiring the plural pronoun 'they' for agreement.
Question 5: The researcher _______ three experiments before reaching a definitive conclusion.
- conduct
- has conducted
- had conducted (Correct answer)
- was conducting
Correct answer: had conducted
Past perfect 'had conducted' shows that the three experiments were completed before the later action of reaching a conclusion.
Question 6: The conference room's projector, which _______ repaired twice this year, broke down again during the presentation.
- was
- had been (Correct answer)
- is
- has been
Correct answer: had been
'Had been repaired' uses past perfect because the repairs happened before the most recent breakdown in the past.
Question 7: Discouraged by the repeated failures, _______ considered abandoning the project altogether.
- the funding was reduced
- the research team (Correct answer)
- several reports were filed
- a new timeline was proposed
Correct answer: the research team
'The research team' is the only option that can logically be discouraged; participial phrases must refer to the main subject.
Bluebook SAT Test Form, Structure, and Sense 3
The jury _______ its verdict after six hours of deliberation.