SAT Reading & Writing · Boundaries
The city council rejected the initial budget proposal ______ a revised version, submitted only two weeks later, passed by a wide margin.
The city council rejected the initial budget proposal ______ a revised version, submitted only two weeks later, passed by a wide margin.
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: , but
Two independent clauses meet here: "the city council rejected the initial budget proposal" and "a revised version... passed by a wide margin." Joining two complete sentences requires a comma before a coordinating conjunction like but. A supplies exactly that. B omits the necessary comma before the joining word, producing a run-on. C adds a second, unnecessary comma after "but" that serves no purpose. D swaps in and, which fails to capture the contrast between rejection and eventual passage that "but" correctly signals.
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