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Question

Difficulty: HardColons, Semicolons, and Dashes

The passage below is adapted from a book on the history of mathematics. Which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to correctly introduce the explanation of the two faculties?

Answer:In his 1912 treatise on the philosophy of science, Henri Poincaré argued that mathematical discoveries are driven by two distinct cognitive faculties【:】 logical analysis, which provides rigor and certainty, and creative intuition, which enables synthesis and invention.

Answer

A colon or a dash (such as an em dash)
A colon or a dash is correct because the clause preceding the blank is independent ('In his 1912 treatise... cognitive faculties') and the text following the blank is an explanation or list that elaborates on the 'two distinct cognitive faculties' mentioned. A colon or a single dash is standardly used to separate an independent clause from an explanatory list or phrase.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the grammatical structure of the clause preceding the blank.
The clause 'In his 1912 treatise on the philosophy of science, Henri Poincaré argued that mathematical discoveries are driven by two distinct cognitive faculties' is independent because it contains a subject ('Henri Poincaré') and a verb ('argued') and can stand alone as a complete sentence.
Identifying whether the preceding clause is independent is necessary to determine which punctuation marks (such as colons, semicolons, or dashes) are grammatically permissible.
2
Analyze the grammatical structure of the phrase following the blank.
The phrase 'logical analysis, which provides rigor and certainty, and creative intuition, which enables synthesis and invention' is a list of two non-independent noun phrases with nonessential clauses attached to them.
Identifying the structure of the following phrase determines the relationship between the two parts of the sentence and rules out punctuation marks that require an independent clause on both sides.
3
Choose the appropriate punctuation mark to link the independent clause to the explanatory list.
A colon or a dash is correct because both can join an independent clause to a list or explanation. A semicolon is incorrect because a semicolon must separate two independent clauses.
Applying standard English punctuation rules ensures that the transition between the independent clause and the elaboration is grammatically sound.

Key Concept

Colons and Dashes
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Topics

Colons, Semicolons, and Dashes

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