sat suite question viewer
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) tracks comparative price list data for its thirty-eight member countries. For instance, in July 2021, a hypothetical basket of goods priced at 100 US dollars (USD) in the United States would have cost 62 USD and 110 USD in fellow OECD blank and Luxembourg, respectively.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Explanation
Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of punctuation between titles and proper nouns. No punctuation is needed to set off the coordinated noun phrase "Chile and Luxembourg" from the title that describes the two countries, "fellow OECD nations." Because the proper nouns "Chile and Luxembourg" are essential information identifying the "fellow OECD nations," no punctuation is necessary.
Choice A is incorrect because no punctuation is needed between the country names ("Chile and Luxembourg") and the title ("fellow OECD nations") describing them. Further, setting the countries’ names off with commas suggests that they could be removed without affecting the coherence of the sentence, which isn’t the case. Choice B is incorrect because no punctuation is needed between the country names ("Chile and Luxembourg") and the title ("fellow OECD nations") describing them. Choice C is incorrect because no punctuation is needed between the country names ("Chile and Luxembourg") and the title ("fellow OECD nations") describing them. Placing a colon after "nations" would confusingly suggest that these were the costs of the basket of goods for "fellow OECD nations" in general, not for Chile and Luxembourg specifically.