Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened their first ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978. The business started in...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

Sentence 1:

• Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield
  opened their first ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978.

Sentence 2:

• The business
  started in a renovated gas station with just twelve flavors.

Sentence 3 (with blank):

• [?]
  expanded their company into an international brand
  known for creative flavors and social activism.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning:

"Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened their first ice cream shop in Burlington, Vermont, in 1978."

• Two people - Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield - started this business together
• They opened an ice cream shop
• The word "their" tells us they jointly owned it

"The business started in a renovated gas station with just twelve flavors."

• We learn some background about how the business began
• It was in a renovated gas station
• They started small - just twelve flavors

Now we reach the blank:

"_____ expanded their company into an international brand known for creative flavors and social activism."

This is where we need to fill in the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• Each, Both, He, It

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The complete sentence would be:

• "[Something] expanded their company into an international brand..."

Now let's understand the key parts:

• "expanded their company"
  • Someone/something made the company grow bigger
  • But notice: "THEIR company"
  • "Their" is plural - it refers to Ben and Jerry together

• "into an international brand"
  • The company became known worldwide
  • It grew from a small local shop to something international

What do we notice?

• The word "their" is the crucial clue here
  • "Their" is plural
  • It refers back to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield
  • These are the only two people mentioned in the passage

• So the subject of this sentence (the blank) must:
  • Refer to both Ben and Jerry
  • Be plural to match with "their"
  • Make logical sense - who expanded "their" company? The two founders.

The correct answer is Both - it's the only plural pronoun that clearly refers to the two founders and matches with "their company."

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Matching Pronouns with Their Antecedents

When you use a pronoun, it must match what it refers to (called the antecedent in grammar terms) in number (singular or plural) and make logical sense in context. You also need to make sure all pronouns in the sentence are consistent with each other.

The Pattern:

Step 1: Identify who or what the pronoun refers to

• In this passage: "Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield" (two people = plural)

Step 2: Check if other pronouns in the sentence give you clues

• "their company" uses the plural possessive "their"
• This confirms we need a plural subject

Step 3: Choose the pronoun that matches

• Need: plural pronoun for two people
• Answer: "Both" ✓

Example from our question:

• Antecedent: "Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield" (two people)
• Pronoun needed: must be plural
• Later in sentence: "their company" (plural possessive)
• Correct choice: "Both" (plural, refers to two people)
• Result: "Both expanded their company..." ✓

Why this matters on the SAT:

The test often includes a possessive pronoun (like "their," "his," "its") later in the sentence as a clue. Make sure your subject pronoun matches in number with any other pronouns in the same sentence.