TOEIC Reading 5 Exercisee 440

<p dir="ltr"><span><span>The question is a simple sentence. The subject is “The corporation’s portfolio of clients,” the verb is “consists of,” and the object is “customers from 13 American states _______&nbsp; 25 countries.”</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>Let’s focus on the object “customers from 13 American states _______&nbsp; 25 countries.” The blank should be filled with a coordinating conjunction that connects two parallel grammatical structures. In this question, the two parallel grammatical structures are two noun phrases “13 American states” and “25 countries.” Choice (B)</span><span>&nbsp;"and"</span><span> is the correct answer because it serves this function.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>(A) "</span><span>nor"</span><span> is incorrect because when it’s used as a coordinating conjunction, it’s followed by an inverted sentence, not a noun phrase.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>(C) "</span><span>by"</span><span> is incorrect because it’s a preposition, not a conjunction.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p dir="ltr"><span><span>(D) "</span><span>both"</span><span> is incorrect because it alone is a pronoun or determiner, not a conjunction.&nbsp;</span></span></p>