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Zorluk: ZorDashes

Read the passage below. Which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to ensure the sentence is grammatically correct and internally consistent?

Cevap:Though he never completed a working prototype, Charles Babbage envisioned a device that would lay the foundation for modern computing. The development of this theoretical machine—the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computer designed to utilize punched cards for programming 【dash】 anticipated the digital age by nearly a century. Babbage’s collaborator, Ada Lovelace, even wrote the first algorithm intended for the engine, cementing their place in technological history.

Cevap

A dash (or em dash) is required to close the nonessential parenthetical phrase that begins with a dash.
A dash is required to close the parenthetical element. Because the parenthetical phrase starts with a dash after 'machine,' it must be closed with a matching dash after 'programming' to maintain consistent punctuation structure.

Adım Adım Çözüm

1
Identify the nonessential parenthetical phrase within the sentence.
The phrase is 'the Analytical Engine, a general-purpose computer designed to utilize punched cards for programming'.
Determining where the parenthetical information begins and ends is necessary to apply the correct punctuation rules.
2
Examine the punctuation mark used to open the parenthetical phrase.
An em dash ('—') is placed immediately after 'theoretical machine' to introduce the parenthetical phrase.
Punctuation marks that set off nonessential information must be symmetrical and consistent.
3
Determine the correct punctuation mark for the blank to close the phrase.
Since the phrase began with a dash, it must close with a matching dash after 'programming'.
Mismatching punctuation marks (such as using a comma to close a phrase opened with a dash) is grammatically incorrect on the ACT.

Anahtar Kavram

Dash consistency in parenthetical elements
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