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Question

Difficulty: MediumColons

Consider the following sentence from an article about space exploration:

To analyze the composition of the distant star, the astrophysicist focused on three key spectral lines; those representing hydrogen, helium, and sodium.

Which of the following is the most grammatically correct choice for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    lines; those representing
  2. lines: those representingAnswer
  3. C
    lines, which were: those representing
  4. D
    lines, representing:

Answer

lines: those representing
The correct choice uses a colon because the clause preceding it is independent, and the phrase following it clarifies the specific spectral lines. This correctly follows the rule that a colon must be preceded by a complete sentence.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the clause preceding the punctuation mark.
'To analyze the composition of the distant star, the astrophysicist focused on three key spectral lines' is an independent clause because it contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence.
A colon or semicolon can only be placed after a clause if that clause is independent.
2
Analyze the grammatical structure of the phrase following the punctuation mark.
'those representing hydrogen, helium, and sodium' is a noun phrase (a dependent element) rather than an independent clause.
Semicolons require independent clauses on both sides, whereas colons can introduce a list or explanation even if it is not a complete sentence.
3
Evaluate the choices based on these grammatical rules.
The option with a colon correctly connects the independent clause to the clarifying list, while the other options introduce fragment or placement errors.
Applying these rules identifies the grammatically correct choice.

Key Concept

Colon usage rules: A colon must be preceded by an independent clause and can be used to introduce a list, explanation, or amplification.
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Topics

Colons

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