In 1953, a fellow performer tripped on legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet, bending its bell upward. When Gillespie tested...
GMAT Standard English Conventions : (Grammar) Questions
In 1953, a fellow performer tripped on legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet, bending its bell upward. When Gillespie tested the damaged instrument, he realized that he ________ sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
preferred; the
preferred the
preferred, the
preferred. The
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
- In 1953,
- a fellow performer tripped on legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet,
- bending its bell upward.
- a fellow performer tripped on legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet,
- When Gillespie tested the damaged instrument,
- he realized that
- he preferred (?) the sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one.
- he realized that
Understanding the Meaning
The first sentence sets up the story:
- In 1953, a fellow performer tripped on Dizzy Gillespie's trumpet
- This accident bent the bell (the flared end) of the trumpet upward.
The second sentence tells us what happened next:
- When Gillespie tested the damaged instrument,
- he realized something about his preference.
This is where we have the blank:
- 'he realized that he ______ sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one.'
Let's look at our choices:
- All of them include the word 'preferred'
- They differ in what punctuation (if any) comes after 'preferred' and before 'the'
- Choice A: semicolon
- Choice B: no punctuation
- Choice C: comma
- Choice D: period (with 'The' capitalized)
To see what works here, let's read the rest and understand what the sentence is saying!
The complete thought is:
- 'he realized that he preferred the sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one'
Now let's understand what this structure is telling us:
- 'preferred' is the verb - what action is Gillespie doing?
- He's preferring something
- What did he prefer?
- 'the sound of a bent bell'
- This answers the question 'preferred what?'
- Over what did he prefer it?
- 'over that of a straight one' (meaning over the sound of a straight bell)
What do we notice about the structure here?
- 'Preferred' is a verb that requires an object to complete its meaning
- You can't just say 'he preferred' and stop
- You need to say what he preferred
- 'The sound of a bent bell' is that direct object
- It tells us what he preferred
- These two parts - the verb and what it acts upon - form one continuous unit
- They work together to express a complete idea
- They shouldn't be interrupted by punctuation
So we need Choice B (preferred the) - no punctuation between the verb and what it's acting on.
GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED
Keeping Verbs Connected to Their Objects
When a verb requires an object to complete its meaning (what grammar calls a transitive verb), the object must follow the verb directly without any punctuation between them. The verb and its object form a single, cohesive unit.
Pattern:
- Subject + Verb + Direct Object (no punctuation)
Examples:
- She enjoys music. ✓
- 'enjoys' = verb
- 'music' = direct object (answers 'enjoys what?')
- No punctuation between them
- She enjoys, music. ✗
- The comma incorrectly breaks up the verb-object connection
- He prefers the sound of a bent bell. ✓
- 'prefers' = verb
- 'the sound of a bent bell' = direct object (answers 'prefers what?')
- No punctuation between them
In our question:
- 'he preferred the sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one'
- 'preferred' = verb
- 'the sound of a bent bell' = direct object
- These must stay connected without punctuation
The key is recognizing when a phrase is completing the verb's meaning rather than starting a new thought. If it answers 'what?' after the verb, it's the object and should follow directly.
preferred; the
Choice A
✗ Incorrect
- A semicolon is used to separate two complete thoughts that could stand alone as sentences
- 'The sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one' cannot stand alone - it has no verb
- It's not a complete thought; it's the object that completes the verb 'preferred'
- The semicolon creates an incorrect separation
preferred the
Choice B
✓ Correct
- Correct as explained in the solution above.
preferred, the
Choice C
✗ Incorrect
- A comma here incorrectly separates the verb from its direct object
- 'Preferred' and 'the sound' need to stay together as one unit
- This creates an unnatural and grammatically incorrect pause in the middle of a verb phrase
preferred. The
Choice D
✗ Incorrect
- A period would split this into two sentences
- 'The sound of a bent bell over that of a straight one' would be a sentence fragment
- It has no verb - it's just a noun phrase that cannot stand alone
- This violates the basic rule that sentences need a subject and verb