Examkin

Question

Difficulty: HardColons, Semicolons, and Dashes

The following passage is adapted from a history of science text. Which punctuation mark should replace the blank to correctly join the clauses?

Answer:In the nineteenth century, geologists debated whether Earth's features were shaped by sudden, catastrophic events or by slow, gradual processes. Catastrophists argued that massive floods and earthquakes formed mountains and canyons almost instantly【;】 uniformitarians, conversely, maintained that these same features resulted from millions of years of steady erosion.

Answer

A semicolon (;)
A semicolon is correct because it links two independent clauses ('Catastrophists argued...' and 'uniformitarians, conversely, maintained...') that are closely related. Because these two complete thoughts are not joined by a coordinating conjunction, a semicolon is required to connect them grammatically.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the clause preceding the blank.
The clause 'Catastrophists argued that massive floods and earthquakes formed mountains and canyons almost instantly' is grammatically independent because it contains a subject and verb and forms a complete thought.
Identifying if the preceding clause is independent is necessary to determine which punctuation marks can link it to the following text.
2
Analyze the clause following the blank.
The clause 'uniformitarians, conversely, maintained that these same features resulted from millions of years of steady erosion' is also grammatically independent.
Identifying if the following clause is independent narrows the punctuation choices to those that can join two complete sentences.
3
Determine the logical relationship between the two independent clauses.
The two clauses present contrasting ideas (instantaneous catastrophic formation vs. gradual uniformitarian erosion), connected by the conjunctive adverb 'conversely'.
This relationship helps determine whether an explanatory punctuation mark (like a colon) or a coordinating mark (like a semicolon) is appropriate.
4
Select the correct punctuation mark.
A semicolon is the correct punctuation mark to join two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
A semicolon correctly links the clauses while avoiding a comma splice or an incorrect explanatory colon.

Key Concept

A semicolon is used to join two closely related independent clauses when they are not connected by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Rate this question

Topics

Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes

More questions from this topic