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Difficulty: HardDashes

The brainless slime mold *Physarum polycephalum* exhibits a remarkable form of primitive intelligence. When placed in a maze with oat flakes at two separate exits, the organism—which is essentially a single, giant cell containing millions of nuclei, soon reorganizes its tubular network to connect the food sources via the shortest route. By pruning inefficient paths and strengthening successful ones, the mold creates a highly optimized network that closely mirrors human-designed transit systems.

Which choice best maintains grammatical consistency and punctuation standards in the passage?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. nuclei—soon reorganizesAnswer
  3. C
    nuclei; soon reorganizing
  4. D
    nuclei, soon reorganizing

Answer

The correct option is the one that closes the parenthetical phrase with an em dash and keeps the active finite verb 'reorganizes'.
The non-essential clause 'which is essentially a single, giant cell containing millions of nuclei' interrupts the main clause and is introduced by an em dash after the subject 'organism'. To maintain punctuation consistency, this non-essential clause must be closed by a matching em dash after the word 'nuclei'. Additionally, the main clause requires the finite verb 'reorganizes' to agree with the subject 'organism'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the parenthetical, non-essential clause in the sentence.
The clause 'which is essentially a single, giant cell containing millions of nuclei' is parenthetical and non-essential to the main sentence structure.
Recognizing non-essential clauses helps determine the appropriate punctuation boundaries.
2
Check the punctuation opening the parenthetical clause.
The clause is opened by an em dash after the word 'organism'.
Parenthetical elements must be enclosed by matching punctuation marks: either two commas, two parentheses, or two em dashes.
3
Select the choice that closes the parenthetical clause with a matching em dash.
The option containing 'nuclei—' successfully matches the opening em dash.
Punctuation consistency requires an em dash to close a parenthetical insert that began with an em dash.
4
Verify that the main clause contains a complete subject and verb combination.
Using the finite verb 'reorganizes' allows the subject 'the organism' to have a predicate, whereas the participle 'reorganizing' creates a fragment.
The sentence must have a complete independent clause once the parenthetical information is removed.

Key Concept

Dash consistency for parenthetical elements
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Topics

Dashes

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