PSAT Writing and Language Question 498: Answer and Explanation

Question: 498

• A. NO CHANGE
• B. of sorts—my sister and I, paragons of robustness, defied infectious organisms.
• C. of sorts, my sister and I: paragons of robustness, defied infectious organisms.
• D. of sorts; my sister and I paragons of robustness defied infectious organisms.

Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

(B) This was a difficult one. Notice the first principal clause: "I understood this only as a vague, obscure advantage of sorts . . . ." That alone could be a full sentence, so we need an appropriate break between it and what follows. Choice (A) has no break, and choice (C), with its comma, provides too little of a break; choice (C) is also flawed with its colon. With choice (D), a semicolon would be acceptable, but "paragons of robustness" is a parenthetical phrase that can use commas or dashes to surround it.