Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardDashes

The following passage is an excerpt from a science article about deep-sea marine biology.

Deep-ocean hydrothermal vents support thriving ecosystems in some of the most hostile environments on Earth. Organisms living near these vents—such as the giant tube worm, which lacks a mouth and digestive tract, rely on symbiotic bacteria for survival. These bacteria convert toxic chemicals from the vents into usable energy.

Which choice is the best replacement for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. tract—relyAnswer
  3. C
    tract; rely
  4. D
    tract. Rely

Answer

The correct choice is the option that replaces the underlined text with 'tract—rely', using a dash to match the opening dash and properly close the nonessential phrase.
The sentence contains a nonessential parenthetical phrase ('such as the giant tube worm, which lacks a mouth and digestive tract') that is introduced by a dash. To maintain punctuation consistency, the phrase must also close with a dash. The correct choice provides this closing dash, properly separating the parenthetical information from the main verb 'rely'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the nonessential parenthetical phrase within the sentence.
The phrase is 'such as the giant tube worm, which lacks a mouth and digestive tract'.
Determining where the parenthetical information begins and ends helps identify the punctuation needed to set it off.
2
Locate the punctuation mark used to introduce the parenthetical phrase.
A dash is used right before the phrase ('vents—such').
Standard punctuation rules require that parenthetical elements be set off by matching punctuation marks: either two commas or two dashes.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the punctuation mark that matches the opening dash.
A closing dash ('tract—rely') is required to maintain consistency and correctly connect the subject to the main verb.
Using a comma, semicolon, or period disrupts the sentence structure and violates punctuation consistency rules.

Key Concept

Punctuation consistency with parenthetical dashes
Rate this question

Topics

Dashes

More questions from this topic