If you try on one of artist Nick Cave's signature Soundsuits, you can expect to swish, rustle, or clang every...

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

• If you try on one of artist Nick Cave's signature Soundsuits,
  • you can expect to swish, rustle, or clang
  • every time you move.
• Cave makes his suits out of found objects,
  • everything from ceramic birds
  • to broken record players.
• He carefully considers
  • the sound
  • an object makes
  • before using [?] in a suit.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's read from the beginning to understand the full context.

The first sentence tells us:

• If you wear one of these special suits called Soundsuits by Nick Cave,
  • they make noise – swishing, rustling, or clanging – when you move.

The second sentence explains what the suits are made of:

• Cave makes them from found objects
  • ranging from ceramic birds to broken record players.

Now we get to the third sentence with our blank:

• "He carefully considers the sound an object makes before using ______ in a suit."
  • This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:
• this, that, these, it

To see what works here, let's understand what this sentence is really saying:

• "He carefully considers the sound an object makes"
  • This means Cave thinks about what sound each object will produce
• "before using ______ in a suit"
  • This tells us he does this evaluation BEFORE he uses [something] in a suit
  • What is he using? He's using that object – the one whose sound he just considered.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The blank needs to refer back to "an object"
  • "An object" is what Cave is considering
  • "An object" is what he's using in the suit
• "An object" is singular
  • So we need a singular pronoun
• "An object" is a general, non-specific reference
  • We're talking about any object Cave might use, not one specific object
  • For this kind of general reference, we use the simple pronoun "it"

So we need it – it refers back to "an object" and matches in number (both singular).

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Pronoun Agreement: Matching Pronouns to Their Antecedents

When you use a pronoun, it must match its antecedent (the word it refers back to) in two key ways:

1. Number Agreement:

• Singular antecedent → singular pronoun
  • "The artist uses a brush. She cleans it after painting."
  • "a brush" (singular) → "it" (singular)
• Plural antecedent → plural pronoun
  • "The artist uses brushes. She cleans them after painting."
  • "brushes" (plural) → "them" (plural)

2. Choosing the Right Type of Pronoun:

• For general, non-specific nouns: Use simple personal pronouns (it, they, them)
  • "When you find a book you like, read it carefully."
  • "a book" is general/non-specific → "it"
• For specific, emphatic references: Use demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those)
  • "I bought the blue book and the red book. This one is my favorite." (pointing to a specific one)

In this question:

• Antecedent: "an object" (singular, general)
• Correct pronoun: "it" (singular personal pronoun for general reference)
• The sentence means: He considers the sound [an object] makes before using [that object] in a suit.