specific action an SLP might take, while the others are either off topic or do not mention an
action that an SLP might take to address a swallowing disorder.
9. C If you cannot cite a reason to use a comma, don’t use one! Commas are not needed for any
reason in this sentence, so the correct answer is (C).
10. B Notice what changes in the answer choices: punctuation! Choice (A) creates a comma
splice, and (D) creates a run-on sentence, so both choices can be eliminated. Choices (B)
and (C) both use correct STOP punctuation; the only difference is the use of but, which
creates a contrast. There is a contrast in the sentence; however, it is already set up in the
first half of the sentence by the phrase after all not merely. Thus, but is not needed in the
second half, and you can eliminate (C) and choose (B).
11. D Notice that pronoun use is changing in the answer choices. Use POE. Choice (A) can be
eliminated because the machine (what itself would refer back to) is not being fixed or
replaced. Choices (B) and (C) can also be eliminated because it could suggest that the
pronoun refers back to machine, the rise, or the digital age, whereas them could refer
back to basics or facets. In either case, the pronoun is not precise. Choice (D) is correct
because the pronoun needed should refer back to people in general (notice our lives and us
used in the sentence). The sentence means that there are some basics that no machine can
replace or fix for us even though the digital age has changed many facets of our lives.
The Other Steel City
12. C Notice the question! It asks for a choice that best introduces the historical tone of this
essay. Only (C) contains a historical reference. The other answer choices mention
information related to its location or population, and information about those topics does
not fulfill the stated purpose of the question.
13. B Notice the question! The question asks which is the least acceptable. The original sentence
uses diversity to convey the vast range of indigenous people who once inhabited
Bethlehem. Only (B) changes the meaning (the sentence isn’t discussing how the inhabitants
were ordered or grouped) and is therefore the least acceptable.
14. D Choice (D) provides the most clarity by indicating who specifically traded with the settlers.
You may have been tempted to choose (A), but (A) is incorrect because it includes the
potentially ambiguous they.
15. D All four choices mean essentially the same thing, so choose the one that is most concise and
makes sense in context. In this case, that is (D), continued.
16. A The phrase at the beginning of the sentence is an introductory idea (Even after the initial
European settlement on Christmas Eve in 1741) and should have a comma following
1741 , so eliminate (B) and (C). The phrase in 1741 is necessary in order to know which
Christmas Eve is being discussed, so (D) can be eliminated because commas before and
after the phrase would indicate that the phrase is unnecessary. Thus, the sentence is correct
