Student: Before completing my research paper, I want to find the book from which I copied a passage to quote in the p...

Skylar on January 5, 2020

@rpark, happy to help.

The correct answer is (C) "if I do not find the book, my research paper will suffer."

From the passage, we know that the student's paper will be much better if it has a quotation. We also know that without the book, there will be no accurate citation, which means there will be no quotation. We are then asked to complete the student's sentence.

The key here is that we do not know what the student will do without the book. The student could fail to finish the paper, include no quotation at all, ask for an extension, etc.... The student has multiple options, and it is not clear from the passage which the student will choose. However, the passage does make it clear that "the completed paper will be much better with the quotation than without" and that the quotation cannot be included without the book. With this information, it is fair to infer that the research paper will suffer if the book is not found (C). Unlike the other option choices, this is the only answer choice that is directly supported by the passage and that does not select a limited course of action on behalf of the student.

Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any other questions and best of luck with your studies!