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Difficulty: EasyRun-on Sentences and Comma Splices

The following passage contains an underlined portion.

Bioluminescent fungi grow on decaying wood in damp forests around the world. These organisms emit a soft green glow known as foxfire. This light attracts nocturnal insects, they help disperse the fungus's spores.

Which of the following options best replaces the underlined portion to make the sentence grammatically correct?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. This light attracts nocturnal insects, which helpAnswer
  3. C
    This light attracts nocturnal insects; which help
  4. D
    This light attracts nocturnal insects. Because they help

Answer

This light attracts nocturnal insects, which help
The correct option resolves the comma splice by using the relative pronoun 'which' to introduce a dependent adjective clause. This structure properly links the explanation of how the insects help to the noun 'insects' in the main clause, making the sentence grammatically complete.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical issue in the underlined portion of the sentence.
The original text consists of two independent clauses ('This light attracts nocturnal insects' and 'they help disperse the fungus's spores') joined by only a comma, which is a comma splice error.
Recognizing comma splices allows us to rule out incorrect sentence boundaries.
2
Evaluate the choices to find a correction that connects the clauses legally without creating a fragment.
Changing 'they help' to ', which help' turns the second clause into a dependent relative clause that modifies 'insects', successfully correcting the splice.
Changing an independent clause into a relative clause is a standard method of repairing run-on sentences.

Key Concept

Correcting comma splices by subordinating one of the independent clauses using a relative pronoun.
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Run-on Sentences and Comma Splices

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