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Question

Difficulty: MediumColons

Deep-sea hydrothermal vents support a thriving ecosystem of organisms that survive without sunlight, they rely on chemical energy from the Earth's crust instead.

Which choice best punctuates the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    sunlight, such as: they rely
  3. sunlight: they relyAnswer
  4. D
    sunlight; because they rely

Answer

The correct option is 'sunlight: they rely' because a colon is used to separate two independent clauses when the second clause explains the first.
The correct option correctly uses a colon to separate two independent clauses, where the second clause ('they rely on chemical energy...') explains or amplifies the first clause ('Deep-sea hydrothermal vents support a thriving ecosystem of organisms that survive without sunlight').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the relationship between the two clauses in the sentence.
The clause before the punctuation ('Deep-sea hydrothermal vents support a thriving ecosystem of organisms that survive without sunlight') and the clause after it ('they rely on chemical energy from the Earth's crust instead') are both independent clauses.
Determining the grammatical status of the clauses helps identify the correct punctuation mark to connect them.
2
Analyze how the second clause relates to the first clause.
The second clause explains or amplifies the statement made in the first clause, showing how the organisms survive without sunlight.
A colon is the appropriate punctuation mark to link two independent clauses when the second clause explains or illustrates the first.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that correctly implements the colon and avoids other errors.
The option containing a colon correctly connects the two independent clauses, whereas the other options create a comma splice, place a colon after an incomplete clause, or incorrectly use a semicolon with a dependent clause.
This guarantees that the punctuation is grammatically correct and stylistically appropriate according to ACT standards.

Key Concept

Colons
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Topics

Colons

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