SAT Reading & Writing · Boundaries
The archive's most fragile documents ______ handled only with cotton gloves and under controlled lighting, are stored in a separate…
The archive's most fragile documents ______ handled only with cotton gloves and under controlled lighting, are stored in a separate climate-controlled vault.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Answer and explanation
Answer: A: , which must be
"Which must be handled only with cotton gloves and under controlled lighting" is a supplement describing the documents, and it sits in the middle of the sentence, between the subject and the main verb "are stored." A supplement placed mid-sentence needs a comma on both sides, and the closing comma is already visible right after "lighting." A supplies the missing opening comma. B leaves that opening comma out. C swaps in a pronoun, "they," creating a run-on since two complete ideas would now sit side by side with only a comma between them. D removes the supplement's boundary marking entirely and would leave the sentence without a working main verb, since "must be handled" would incorrectly become the sentence's only verb, stranding "are stored" without a clear subject connection.
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