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Question

Difficulty: MediumEnd-of-Sentence Punctuation

Read the passage below. What punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to grammatically complete the sentences?

Answer:In his book on the history of culinary arts, the author wonders why the fork took so many centuries to become a standard utensil in Western Europe【.】 Apparently, medieval nobility considered it an unnecessary and even effeminate luxury.

Answer

A period (.) is the correct punctuation mark to terminate the first sentence.
The correct punctuation mark is a period. The clause preceding the blank contains an indirect question ('the author wonders why...'), which functions as a declarative statement and must end with a period rather than a question mark. Furthermore, the capitalized word following the blank indicates the start of a new independent clause, requiring a full sentence termination.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the clause preceding the blank.
The clause 'the author wonders why the fork took so many centuries to become a standard utensil in Western Europe' functions as an indirect question.
Indirect questions are statements rather than direct inquiries and must be terminated with a period, not a question mark.
2
Analyze the clause succeeding the blank.
The clause 'Apparently, medieval nobility considered it an unnecessary and even effeminate luxury' is a complete independent clause starting with a capitalized word.
This shows that the two clauses are separate sentences and cannot be joined by a comma or left unpunctuated.
3
Select the correct punctuation mark.
A period is the correct punctuation mark to terminate the statement.
A period resolves the boundary between the two independent clauses without introducing errors.

Key Concept

End-of-Sentence Punctuation for Indirect Questions
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

End-of-Sentence Punctuation

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