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Question

Difficulty: EasyCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

To prepare for the upcoming track meet, the athlete practiced her sprints, worked on her breathing, and stretched daily. Which choice is the best version of the underlined portion?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    sprints worked on her breathing and stretched
  3. C
    sprints, worked on her breathing, and, stretched
  4. D
    sprints; worked on her breathing; and stretched

Answer

The option that leaves the underlined portion unchanged is correct because it properly separates a list of three parallel actions with commas and uses a coordinating conjunction before the final action without any extra punctuation.
The correct answer maintains a standard, grammatically correct list of three items ('sprints,' 'worked on her breathing,' and 'stretched') separated by commas, with the coordinating conjunction 'and' placed directly before the final element.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the list in the sentence.
The sentence lists three actions performed by the athlete: 'practiced her sprints,' 'worked on her breathing,' and 'stretched.'
Identifying the items in the series helps determine how they should be separated.
2
Apply punctuation rules for a list of three items.
Commas are needed after the first two items, followed by the coordinating conjunction 'and' before the last item.
Standard punctuation rules require commas to separate three or more items in a list to prevent run-on structures.
3
Verify that no unnecessary punctuation is introduced.
The correct format is 'sprints, worked on her breathing, and stretched' with no punctuation following the conjunction 'and'.
Adding a comma after 'and' or using semicolons introduces unnecessary pauses and breaks grammatical cohesion.

Key Concept

Commas in a list of three or more items
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

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