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Difficulty: HardSentence Fragments

Many species of slime mold, such as *Physarum polycephalum*, exhibit primitive intelligence despite being single-celled organisms. When placed in a maze with food at two different exits, the mold will grow to fill the entire space, eventually retracting its branches from dead ends to leave a single, efficient connection. Although the organism lacks a brain or any nervous system. It manages to find the shortest path between the nutrient sources by utilizing a chemical memory of the paths it has already explored.

Which of the following choices best corrects the grammatical error in the underlined portion?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. Although the organism lacks a brain or any nervous system, itAnswer
  3. C
    Although the organism lacks a brain or any nervous system; it
  4. D
    The organism lacks a brain or any nervous system, it

Answer

The correct choice is the option that connects the introductory dependent clause to the main independent clause using a comma: 'Although the organism lacks a brain or any nervous system, it'.
The clause starting with the subordinating conjunction 'Although' is dependent and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. Changing the period to a comma and changing the capital 'It' to a lowercase 'it' correctly joins this introductory dependent clause to the main independent clause that follows it.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical structure of the underlined portion.
The clause beginning with 'Although' is a dependent clause because it starts with a subordinating conjunction and cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
This helps determine why the original punctuation (a period) creates a sentence fragment.
2
Evaluate how to connect the dependent clause to the subsequent independent clause.
An introductory dependent clause must be followed by a comma before the independent clause begins.
Connecting them with a comma creates a grammatically complete, complex sentence.
3
Eliminate incorrect punctuation choices.
Using a semicolon is incorrect because semicolons only link two independent clauses. Removing the subordinating conjunction entirely creates two independent clauses separated only by a comma, resulting in a comma splice.
This confirms that only the comma-connected option is grammatically sound.

Key Concept

Identifying and correcting sentence fragments by properly linking dependent clauses to independent clauses.
Estimated Time:50s
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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