The following passage contains a blank where a punctuation mark is missing. What punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to ensure the sentence is punctuated correctly?
Answer:In the late 1970s, NASA embarked on a grand tour of the outer planets. Launched in 1977, the Voyager 1 spacecraft—the first human-made object to enter interstellar space【—】continues to transmit valuable data back to Earth from billions of miles away. This historic mission has forever changed our understanding of the cosmos.
Answer
A dash (—) must be placed in the blank to close the nonessential parenthetical phrase.
The sentence contains a nonessential parenthetical phrase, 'the first human-made object to enter interstellar space,' which describes the Voyager 1 spacecraft. Because this phrase is introduced by a dash, it must be closed with a matching dash to maintain punctuation consistency. Using any other punctuation mark, such as a comma or a semicolon, would result in an incorrect mixture of punctuation styles.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Punctuation consistency with nonessential elements
Estimated Time:1m 0s