Their Last Ride was first released in 2022. This short ______ is about the environmental issues affecting wild and domestic horses, was directed by Cherokee filmmaker Neta Rhyne.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Explanation
Context: "This short documentary, which is about the environmental issues affecting wild and domestic horses, was directed by Cherokee filmmaker Neta Rhyne." "Documentary, which" — "which is about the environmental issues affecting wild and domestic horses" is a non-restrictive relative clause. A comma before "which" opens it.
Answer: D) documentary, which
Why? "Which is about the environmental issues affecting wild and domestic horses" is a non-restrictive relative clause — it adds extra information about the documentary but isn't essential to identify it. Non-restrictive "which" clauses require a comma before them.
Traps:
- A) "documentary" → without the comma, "which is about the environmental issues" seems to be a restrictive clause, but the non-restrictive comma is needed
- B) "documentary which" → missing comma before non-restrictive "which"
- C) "documentary," → comma alone without "which" creates a comma splice