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Question

Difficulty: EasyColons, Semicolons, and Dashes

Complete the passage with the single punctuation mark that correctly joins the clauses.

Answer:The high school chemistry lab was fully equipped with modern microscopes and advanced safety gear【;】 however, the neighboring biology lab still lacked these essential scientific resources.

Answer

The semicolon (;) is the correct punctuation mark.
The semicolon (;) is correct because it separates two independent clauses where the second clause begins with the conjunctive adverb 'however'. Since 'however' is in lowercase, a period cannot be used, and a comma would create a grammatically incorrect comma splice.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the structure of the two clauses surrounding the blank.
The clause before the blank ('The high school chemistry lab was fully equipped with modern microscopes and advanced safety gear') and the clause after the blank ('however, the neighboring biology lab still lacked these essential scientific resources') are both independent clauses.
Both clauses can stand alone as complete, grammatically correct sentences.
2
Determine the appropriate punctuation to connect the independent clauses when followed by a transition in lowercase.
Because 'however' is a conjunctive adverb starting the second independent clause and is written in lowercase, it must be preceded by a semicolon.
A semicolon is grammatically required to link two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction when they are joined by a conjunctive adverb.

Key Concept

Using a semicolon to link independent clauses separated by a conjunctive adverb
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Topics

Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes

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