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Question

Difficulty: MediumDashes

Read the passage below. Which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to ensure the sentence is punctuated correctly?

Answer:New Caledonian crows are renowned for their sophisticated tool-making abilities. In the wild, these remarkable birds—often compared to primates in terms of cognitive capacity【—】 create hooks from twigs to extract insects from deep crevices.

Answer

A dash (—)
The correct punctuation mark is a dash. The phrase 'often compared to primates in terms of cognitive capacity' is a parenthetical insert. Because the insert begins with a dash after 'birds', it must be closed with a matching dash before the main verb 'create'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the parenthetical (nonessential) phrase in the sentence.
The phrase 'often compared to primates in terms of cognitive capacity' is parenthetical and nonessential to the grammatical structure of the main clause.
Nonessential information must be set off from the rest of the sentence using consistent punctuation marks.
2
Analyze the punctuation mark that introduces the parenthetical phrase.
An em dash (—) is used right after the word 'birds' to introduce the phrase.
To maintain punctuation consistency, the punctuation mark closing a parenthetical element must match the one that opened it.
3
Select the matching punctuation mark to close the phrase before the main verb.
A matching em dash (—) must be placed in the blank to correctly set off the phrase.
Mixing a dash with a comma or parenthesis to set off the same nonessential element is grammatically incorrect on the ACT.

Key Concept

Punctuation consistency with dashes setting off nonessential elements
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Topics

Dashes

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