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Difficulty: HardColons, Semicolons, and Dashes

For decades, planetary scientists have debated the origins of the asteroid belt positioned between Mars and Jupiter. Many astronomers believe that the belt is a collection of fragments from a planet that shattered early in the solar system's history_______ others argue that the rocky debris represents primordial materials that were prevented from coalescing into a single planet due to Jupiter's intense gravitational pull.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. history; othersAnswer
  2. B
    history, others
  3. C
    history others
  4. D
    history; while others

Answer

history; others
The correct option correctly uses a semicolon to separate two independent clauses. The clause preceding the semicolon ('Many astronomers believe...') and the clause following the semicolon ('others argue...') are both grammatically complete and can stand alone as sentences, making a semicolon the appropriate punctuation mark to link them.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the clauses before and after the blank.
The clause before the blank ('Many astronomers believe that the belt is a collection of fragments from a planet that shattered early in the solar system's history') and the clause after the blank ('others argue that the rocky debris represents primordial materials that were prevented from coalescing into a single planet due to Jupiter's intense gravitational pull') are both independent clauses.
Identifying clause boundaries is necessary to determine the correct punctuation required to link them.
2
Determine the punctuation mark needed to join two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
A semicolon is appropriate to separate two closely related independent clauses when no coordinating conjunction (such as 'and' or 'but') is present.
This avoids grammatical errors such as run-on sentences and comma splices.
3
Evaluate the choices to find the one that correctly applies a semicolon between the two independent clauses without introducing subordinate conjunctions.
The option containing 'history; others' correctly uses a semicolon to link the independent clauses. The option with 'history; while others' is incorrect because the addition of 'while' makes the second clause dependent, which cannot follow a semicolon in this context.
A semicolon must only connect two independent clauses, not an independent clause and a dependent clause.

Key Concept

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

Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes

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