PSAT Writing and Language Question 273: Answer and Explanation

Question: 273

• A. NO CHANGE
• B. effect, as they claimed, merely
• C. effect as they claimed, merely
• D. effect, as they claimed merely

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Difficulty: Medium

Getting to the Answer: Remember that punctuation must be used to set off parenthetical information. In this sentence, the phrase "as they claimed" is parenthetical in the sentence—without this nonessential phrase, the essential idea of the sentence, "the restorers did not achieve this effect merely by removing the dirt... from the frescoes" still makes logical sense. Since punctuation must set off parenthetical information, (B) is correct because it is the only choice that uses a comma at both the beginning and the end of the phrase.