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Difficulty: MediumSemicolons

The conservator examined the ancient medieval manuscript under ultraviolet light; she discovered hidden layers of text that had been scraped away centuries ago.

Which choice represents the most effective punctuation for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. NO CHANGEAnswer
  2. B
    light, she
  3. C
    light; discovering
  4. D
    light; and she

Answer

NO CHANGE
The correct option correctly uses a semicolon to separate two closely related independent clauses. Since both parts of the sentence have their own subjects and verbs and form complete thoughts, a semicolon is a grammatically correct way to link them without adding a coordinating conjunction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the clauses before and after the punctuation mark.
The clause before ('The conservator examined the ancient medieval manuscript under ultraviolet light') and the clause after ('she discovered hidden layers of text that had been scraped away centuries ago') are both independent clauses.
Each clause contains a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence.
2
Determine the acceptable methods for joining two independent clauses.
Two independent clauses can be joined by either a semicolon alone, or a comma followed by a coordinating conjunction (such as 'and').
A semicolon is used here because there is no coordinating conjunction joining the two related, complete thoughts.

Key Concept

Semicolons are used to link two independent clauses that are closely related in thought when no coordinating conjunction is present.
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Topics

Semicolons

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