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Question

Difficulty: MediumDashes

Archaeologists studying the Nabataean empire have uncovered sophisticated water management systems in the desert. These systems—crucial for survival in the arid environment, allowed a thriving civilization to flourish.

Which of the following options is the correct punctuation for the bolded portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    environment; allowed
  3. environment—allowedAnswer
  4. D
    environment. Allowed

Answer

environment—allowed
The correct answer correctly closes the parenthetical non-essential phrase with a dash ('—') to match the dash that opens the phrase after the word 'systems'. This preserves grammatical symmetry and prevents punctuation mismatch.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the non-essential parenthetical phrase in the sentence.
The phrase starting with '—crucial for survival...' provides extra information about the 'systems' and is non-essential.
Recognizing the structure helps determine what punctuation rules apply to enclosing this information.
2
Check the opening punctuation mark of the parenthetical phrase.
The phrase opens with a dash ('—') directly after the word 'systems'.
Punctuation marks used to set off non-essential elements must be consistent (comma with comma, parenthesis with parenthesis, or dash with dash).
3
Select the option that matches the opening punctuation mark to close the phrase.
A dash must be placed after 'environment' to match the dash before 'crucial'.
This maintains dash pair consistency and properly links the subject 'These systems' with its verb 'allowed'.

Key Concept

Dash Pair Consistency
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Dashes

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