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Question

Difficulty: EasyColons

Ancient Roman builders created a highly durable concrete by mixing two key ingredients: volcanic ash and slaked lime.

Which choice best punctuates the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. ingredients: volcanicAnswer
  2. B
    ingredients including: volcanic
  3. C
    ingredients, they were volcanic
  4. D
    ingredients; volcanic

Answer

ingredients: volcanic
The correct choice correctly uses a colon to introduce a list of items after an independent clause. The clause before the colon ('Ancient Roman builders created a highly durable concrete by mixing two key ingredients') can stand alone as a complete sentence, which is the primary requirement for using a colon.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the clause before the punctuation mark to determine if it is independent.
The clause 'Ancient Roman builders created a highly durable concrete by mixing two key ingredients' is a complete thought with a subject and a verb.
Colons must be preceded by a complete independent clause.
2
Examine the element following the punctuation mark.
'volcanic ash and slaked lime' is a list of two items identifying the ingredients.
A colon is the correct punctuation mark to introduce a list following an independent clause.
3
Evaluate and rule out the incorrect options.
The option with 'including' followed by a colon is incorrect because 'including' makes the preceding clause incomplete. The option with 'they were' separated by a comma creates a comma splice. The option with a semicolon is incorrect because a semicolon must separate two independent clauses, but the second part here is a fragment.
Only one choice is grammatically correct under standard English conventions.

Key Concept

Colons must be preceded by a complete independent clause and are used to introduce a list, explanation, or amplification.
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Colons

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