Question 125·Hard·Boundaries
During the Renaissance, many polymaths—including Leonardo da Vinci (painter of the Mona Lisa), Michelangelo (sculptor of David), and Niccolò Machiavelli (author of The Prince ______ produced works that continue to shape Western thought.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation and boundary questions, first simplify the sentence to find the main clause, then identify any interrupting elements set off by commas, dashes, or parentheses. Make sure every opening mark (like a dash or parenthesis) has a logical closing partner and avoid stacking punctuation marks (such as a comma plus a dash) unless the combination is clearly required; choose the option that cleanly returns you from the interruption to the main sentence.
Hints
Identify the interrupting phrase
Look at the part of the sentence that starts with “polymaths—including” and ends just before the blank. How is this extra information separated from the main sentence?
Track opened punctuation marks
Within the list of examples, which punctuation marks have been opened but not yet closed (for example, any parentheses or dashes)? Focus especially on the phrase about Niccolò Machiavelli.
Avoid double or missing punctuation
Ask yourself: after closing the parenthesis for Machiavelli’s description, what single punctuation mark is needed to jump back into the main clause? Which options either leave something unclosed or add an unnecessary extra mark?
Step-by-step Explanation
See the main structure of the sentence
Strip away the middle details: “During the Renaissance, many polymaths—including [examples]—produced works that continue to shape Western thought.” The phrase beginning with “including” is an interrupting detail set off by a pair of em dashes.
Notice what needs to be closed
Inside that interrupting dash phrase, each person’s name is followed by a description in parentheses, such as “Leonardo da Vinci (painter of the Mona Lisa)” and “Michelangelo (sculptor of David).” For Niccolò Machiavelli, we already have “(author of The Prince,” so we must close this with a right parenthesis before we move back to the main sentence.
Decide how to return to the main clause
After we close the parenthesis, we need to show the end of the interrupting dash phrase and return to the main clause “produced works…”. That means the punctuation after the parenthesis must include an em dash to match the earlier dash after “polymaths—including.”
Choose the option that has exactly the needed punctuation
We need a closing parenthesis to finish the Machiavelli description and an em dash to close the interrupting phrase, with no extra comma before the dash. The only choice that gives exactly this is “)—,” so the correct answer is )—.