PSAT Writing and Language Question 540: Answer and Explanation

Question: 540

• A. NO CHANGE
• B. decompose,
• C. decomposed,
• D. decomposition,

Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

(D) Pay attention to context in order to maintain parallelism. The other words in the list are "respiration" and "combustion"—both nouns that end in -tion. "Decomposition" is one of two noun options, but it is the -tion ending that maintains parallelism better than the gerund "decomposing." Choices (B) and (C) are not nouns. Rather, they are verbs that do not maintain parallelism in the list.