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Difficulty: MediumCommas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

To reconstruct historic climate patterns across the Great Basin, dendrochronologists analyzed the dense, resinous wood of bristlecone pines, measured carbon isotope ratios, and mapped annual growth variations spanning three millennia.

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

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    dense resinous wood of bristlecone pines, measured carbon isotope ratios; and mapped
  3. C
    dense, resinous wood of bristlecone pines; measured carbon isotope ratios, and mapped
  4. D
    dense, resinous wood of bristlecone pines, they measured carbon isotope ratios, and mapped

Answer

The option offering 'NO CHANGE' is correct because it properly separates coordinate adjectives with a comma and correctly formats a three-item parallel series of predicate phrases.
The correct selection preserves both required comma functions in this sentence: separating coordinate adjectives ('dense, resinous') and separating three parallel past-tense action phrases introduced by a single subject ('analyzed...', 'measured...', 'and mapped...').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the adjectives preceding the noun 'wood'.
Both 'dense' and 'resinous' independently describe the wood (you can say 'dense and resinous wood' or 'resinous, dense wood'), making them coordinate adjectives that require a separating comma.
Coordinate adjectives require comma separation.
2
Analyze the structural pattern of the sentence's predicate.
The subject 'dendrochronologists' performs three actions in a parallel list: (1) analyzed..., (2) measured..., and (3) mapped....
Items in a list of three or more elements must be separated by commas, with a coordinating conjunction preceding the final item.
3
Verify punctuation across clause boundaries.
Semicolons are reserved for connecting independent clauses, so using a semicolon inside a list of predicate phrases is incorrect.
Punctuation must match the grammatical weight of the joined elements.

Key Concept

Commas with Coordinate Adjectives and Parallel Items in a Series
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Topics

Commas with Lists, Clauses, and Coordinate Adjectives

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