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Difficulty: MediumSentence Fragments

The following passage is an excerpt from an essay about avian intelligence.

Crows are renowned for their exceptional problem-solving abilities, often demonstrating cognitive skills on par with those of primates. In a recent study, researchers observed New Caledonian crows fashioning tools out of twigs to retrieve food from deep crevices. A behavior that highlights their capacity for planning and abstract reasoning.

Which of the following options, if any, is the most effective and grammatically correct replacement for the underlined portion of the passage?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    crevices, this behavior highlights
  3. C
    crevices; a behavior highlighting
  4. crevices, a behavior that highlightsAnswer

Answer

The option replacing the period with a comma and keeping the relative clause ('crevices, a behavior that highlights') is correct.
The correct choice connects the description of the crows' behavior to the preceding independent clause using a comma. This creates a grammatically correct appositive phrase ('a behavior...') that modifies the action of the first clause, avoiding both a sentence fragment and a comma splice.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the grammatical issue in the original passage.
The second sentence ('A behavior...') has a subject ('behavior') and a relative clause ('that highlights...'), but lacks a main verb. Therefore, it is a sentence fragment.
A complete sentence must contain both a subject and a verb and express a complete thought.
2
Evaluate the relationship between the two parts of the text.
The second part is a descriptive comment on the action of the first part (the crows making tools).
Understanding the logical connection helps determine the correct punctuation or conjunction needed to join them.
3
Test the options to find a grammatically correct connection.
Connecting them with a comma and keeping 'a behavior that highlights' creates a valid appositive phrase that modifies the previous clause.
An appositive noun phrase can be attached to an independent clause with a comma to add descriptive detail without forming a fragment or a comma splice.

Key Concept

Recognizing and fixing sentence fragments by correctly joining modifying phrases (appositives) to independent clauses.
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Topics

Sentence Fragments

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