Richard Spikes was a proliﬁc African American inventor known for his contributions to automotive engineering. Between
1907 and 1946, he patented many inventions, ______ an automobile turn signal, a safety brake, and—most famously—the ﬁrst
automatic gearshift.
included
includes
including
will include
Choice C is the best answer. The convention being tested is the use of nonﬁnite verb forms within a sentence. The nonﬁnite
present participle "including" is correctly used to form a participial phrase that supplements the main clause "he patented
many inventions," listing several of Spikes’s patented inventions.
Choice A is incorrect because the ﬁnite past tense verb "included" can’t be used in this way to supplement the main clause
"he patented many inventions." Choice B is incorrect because the ﬁnite present tense verb "includes" can’t be used in this
way to supplement the main clause "he patented many inventions." Choice D is incorrect because the ﬁnite future tense verb
"will include" can’t be used in this way to supplement the main clause "he patented many inventions."