Question 110·Medium·Boundaries
In a letter to shareholders, the company's new CEO promised something _____ restoring public trust in the brand.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation “boundary” questions, first test whether the words before and after the blank are independent clauses (full sentences) or if the second part is a list, example, or explanation. If both sides are independent clauses, a period or semicolon may work; if the second part is a fragment that explains the first, look for a colon; if it simply adds minor, descriptive information, a comma may be enough. Always match the punctuation mark to its grammatical job, not to what “sounds right.”
Hints
Check if the first part is a complete sentence
Read up to the blank: "the company's new CEO promised something specific." Ask yourself: can this stand alone as a complete sentence?
Look at the phrase after the blank
Is "restoring public trust in the brand" a full sentence with its own subject and verb, or is it describing or explaining what was promised?
Match the punctuation to its function
You need a punctuation mark that comes after a complete thought and introduces an explanation or example of that thought. Which choice does that?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the sentence structure
Read the full sentence:
"In a letter to shareholders, the company's new CEO promised something _____ restoring public trust in the brand."
Before the blank, we have a complete thought: "the company's new CEO promised something specific" (once the word is complete). After the blank, "restoring public trust in the brand" tells us what that "something" is.
Decide what the punctuation must do
The phrase after the blank is not a full sentence (it has no subject and finite verb). It functions as an explanation or example of the "something" that was promised.
So the punctuation mark needs to:
- Come after a complete thought, and
- Introduce an explanation or elaboration of that thought.
Evaluate each type of punctuation by its job
Now think about what each punctuation mark is usually used for:
- A comma often attaches additional descriptive information to a main clause, but here we want to clearly show what was promised.
- A semicolon and a period are used to link or separate two independent clauses (two complete sentences). But the phrase "restoring public trust in the brand" is not an independent clause.
- One punctuation mark is specifically used after an independent clause to introduce an explanation, list, or example. That is the kind of mark we need here.
Match the needed punctuation to the answer choice
Because the first part ("the company's new CEO promised something specific") is a complete thought, and the next phrase explains exactly what that "something" is, the sentence correctly uses a colon to introduce that explanation.
So the completed sentence is:
"In a letter to shareholders, the company's new CEO promised something specific: restoring public trust in the brand."
The correct answer is D) specific:.