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Difficulty: MediumCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

After analyzing the structural integrity of the ancient stone bridge, the civil engineer recommended using dense, weather-resistant mortar, and she presented her findings to the preservation board.

Which choice best completes the sentence according to the conventions of standard written English?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    dense, weather-resistant mortar, she
  3. C
    dense weather resistant mortar, and she
  4. D
    dense, weather-resistant mortar; and she

Answer

The original phrasing ('dense, weather-resistant mortar, and she') is correct because it properly separates coordinate adjectives with a comma and uses a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction to link two complete independent clauses.
The correct response preserves the original text, which appropriately uses a comma between the coordinate adjectives 'dense' and 'weather-resistant' (since they can be connected by 'and' or reversed) and uses a comma before the coordinating conjunction 'and' to connect two complete independent clauses.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the adjectives preceding the noun 'mortar'
'Dense' and 'weather-resistant' are coordinate adjectives because they can be joined by 'and' ('dense and weather-resistant') or reversed without changing the meaning.
Coordinate adjectives modifying the same noun must be separated by a comma.
2
Identify the clause structure following the noun phrase
'the civil engineer recommended using dense, weather-resistant mortar' and 'she presented her findings to the preservation board' are both independent clauses.
Two independent clauses joined in a single sentence require a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
3
Confirm the correct punctuation choice
The original phrasing contains both the comma between coordinate adjectives and the comma preceding 'and'.
All punctuation conventions for coordinate adjectives and compound independent clauses are satisfied.

Key Concept

Commas with Coordinate Adjectives and Independent Clauses
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Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

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