Digital SAT chapter 7: Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions practice questions with answers
By Team Megalecture · Updated 4 Nov 2026
56 exam-style questions on Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions, each with the answer and a short explanation. Ten of them are below to try. The chapter test draws ten fresh questions each time and is marked the moment you finish, with your score by topic.
Ten Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions questions with answers
Try each one, then open the answer. These ten stay the same; the test draws new ones every time.
1. Some plants defend themselves by recruiting help from other ______ caterpillars chew on corn leaves, the plants release airborne chemicals that attract parasitic wasps, which lay their eggs inside the caterpillars.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
species, when
B
species when
C
species, which when
D
species: when
Show answer
Answer: D. The first clause is complete, and the sentence after it gives an example of that claim, so a colon is correct. A comma creates a comma splice (two main clauses joined by only a comma), no punctuation creates a run-on, and 'which when' is ungrammatical.
2. Halley's Comet passes through the inner solar system about every 76 years. It was last seen from Earth in 1986, and astronomers calculate that it ______ in 2061.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
returned
B
will return
C
has returned
D
had returned
Show answer
Answer: B. The year 2061 is in the future, so the future tense 'will return' is needed. The other options describe past actions.
3. A team of geographers wanted to learn how the mangrove forests of the Indus River delta have changed since the 1990s. Using satellite images taken over more than two decades, ______
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
the geographers' maps showed where the forests had grown and where they had shrunk.
B
the geographers mapped where the forests had grown and where they had shrunk.
C
the forests were mapped by the geographers to show where they had grown and shrunk.
D
maps showing where the forests had grown and shrunk were made by the geographers.
Show answer
Answer: B. The geographers are the ones who used the satellite images, so 'the geographers' must come right after the opening phrase. In the other options the phrase modifies the maps or the forests; in 'the geographers' maps,' the subject is the maps, not the geographers.
4. London opened the world's first underground railway in 1863, and other cities soon followed its example. By the end of 1900, trains ______ to run beneath the streets of Budapest, Glasgow, and Paris as well.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
had began
B
have begun
C
begun
D
had begun
Show answer
Answer: D. 'By the end of 1900' sets a past point before which the action was complete, so the past perfect is needed, and the past participle of 'begin' is 'begun.' 'Had began' uses the wrong form, 'have begun' the wrong tense, and 'begun' alone is not a complete verb.
5. The number of known exoplanets—planets that orbit stars other than the Sun—______ grown rapidly since the 1990s. By 2022, astronomers had confirmed the existence of more than 5,000 of them.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
has
B
have
C
are
D
were
Show answer
Answer: A. 'The number of...' is singular, so the verb is 'has,' forming 'has grown.' The plural nouns 'exoplanets' and 'stars' come between the subject and the verb but do not control it.
6. The first Winter Olympic Games were held in 1924 in Chamonix, a town in the French ______ from sixteen nations competed in events such as ski jumping, speed skating, and ice hockey.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
Alps, athletes
B
Alps, and athletes
C
Alps athletes
D
Alps and, athletes
Show answer
Answer: B. Two independent clauses can be joined by a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction such as 'and.' A comma alone makes a comma splice, no punctuation makes a run-on, and the comma belongs before 'and,' not after it.
7. The discovery that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, rather than stress or spicy food, causes most stomach ______ Australian researchers Barry Marshall and Robin Warren the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
ulcers, earned
B
ulcers; earned
C
ulcers earned
D
ulcers—earned
Show answer
Answer: C. The long subject is 'The discovery that the bacterium... causes most stomach ulcers,' and its verb is 'earned.' The pair of commas around 'rather than stress or spicy food' is already complete, so no punctuation should come between the subject and its verb.
8. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, remembered today mainly for building the Taj Mahal in Agra, ______ the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, a walled garden completed in 1642 with three terraces, long pools, and hundreds of fountains.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
also commissioning
B
also commissioned
C
who also commissioned
D
having also commissioned
Show answer
Answer: B. The subject 'Shah Jahan' still needs a main verb, because 'remembered today...' is only a modifier. 'Also commissioned' supplies it; the 'who' clause and the '-ing' forms leave the sentence without a main verb.
9. Marie Curie's laboratory notebooks, which record her experiments with radioactive elements such as radium and ______ still so radioactive that they are kept in lead-lined boxes at France's national library.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
polonium are
B
polonium; are
C
polonium, are
D
polonium—are
Show answer
Answer: C. The clause beginning 'which record' is extra information opened by a comma after 'notebooks,' so a matching comma must close it before the verb 'are.' Leaving it out, or using a semicolon or dash, breaks the pair.
10. Before she became known as a novelist, American ______ studied anthropology with Franz Boas in New York and traveled through Florida and Louisiana collecting folktales and songs. She later drew on this research in her fiction.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
A
writer, Zora Neale Hurston,
B
writer, Zora Neale Hurston
C
writer Zora Neale Hurston
D
writer Zora Neale Hurston,
Show answer
Answer: C. 'American writer' works like a title before the name, and the name is needed to say who is meant, so no commas are used. A comma after the name would also separate the subject from its verb 'studied.'
Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions: questions students ask
How many Reading and Writing · Standard English Conventions practice questions are there?
56, each with the answer and a short explanation, across 2 topics: Boundaries, Form, structure and sense. Every chapter test draws ten of them, so you can take it many times.
Is the Digital SAT chapter 7 test free?
Yes. The test, the answers and the explanations are free and need no sign-up. Sign in only if you want your scores kept across devices.
How is the chapter test marked?
The moment you press Finish: your score, the right answer and an explanation for every question, and the ones you got wrong saved in My mistakes to retry.
