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Question

Difficulty: MediumSemicolons

During the late nineteenth century, the invention of the kinetoscope revolutionized the entertainment industry, public parlors opened across the country, allowing patrons to view short, moving pictures through a peephole viewer.

Which of the following is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. industry; publicAnswer
  3. C
    industry; since public
  4. D
    industry; and public

Answer

industry; public
The correct option correctly uses a semicolon to join two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction. Both 'During the late nineteenth century, the invention of the kinetoscope revolutionized the entertainment industry' and 'public parlors opened across the country...' can stand alone as complete sentences, making the semicolon the appropriate punctuation mark.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the clause structure of both parts of the sentence separated by the underline.
The first part ('During the late nineteenth century, the invention of the kinetoscope revolutionized the entertainment industry') is an independent clause. The second part ('public parlors opened across the country, allowing patrons to view short, moving pictures through a peephole viewer') is also an independent clause.
Determining whether the clauses are independent or dependent is necessary to choose the correct punctuation.
2
Select the correct punctuation to join two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
A semicolon is required to separate the two independent clauses, and no coordinating conjunction or subordinating conjunction should be added.
A comma alone creates a comma splice, whereas a semicolon properly links two closely related independent clauses.

Key Concept

Semicolons
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Topics

Semicolons

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