Question 131·Medium·Boundaries
Many wildlife biologists participate in community outreach _____ hands-on workshops, they hope to inspire local residents to protect endangered habitats.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation and boundaries questions, first split the sentence into chunks around the punctuation and check whether each chunk is an independent clause (has its own subject and verb and could stand alone). If there are two independent clauses, make sure they are joined correctly—with a period, semicolon, or comma plus a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). Eliminate any choices that leave a comma splice or create awkward, ungrammatical phrasing, then choose the option that keeps the meaning clear and flows naturally.
Hints
Look at the part after the comma
Focus on the words after the comma: "they hope to inspire local residents to protect endangered habitats." Does that part have its own subject and verb, and could it stand alone as a sentence?
Check for two complete thoughts
Ask yourself whether the words before the comma also form a complete thought (with a subject and verb). If you have two complete thoughts, what kind of punctuation do you usually need between them?
Test each punctuation pattern
For each answer choice, read the full sentence and notice what punctuation ends the first idea. Does any choice still leave only a comma before "they hope," and does any choice clearly separate the two complete ideas?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the sentence parts
Read the whole sentence with a neutral version in the blank:
"Many wildlife biologists participate in community outreach ___ hands-on workshops, they hope to inspire local residents to protect endangered habitats."
Notice that after the comma we have "they hope to inspire local residents to protect endangered habitats," which is a complete sentence on its own (subject = they, verb = hope). Before that comma, we also have a complete idea about what the biologists do.
Recognize the clause boundary problem
The first idea is essentially "Many wildlife biologists participate in community outreach (programs) (through hands-on workshops)." That is a complete sentence.
So the structure is:
- Complete sentence about participating in outreach
- Comma
- Complete sentence: "they hope to inspire local residents..."
Two complete sentences joined only by a comma create a comma splice, which is not allowed in Standard English. We need punctuation that properly separates or joins these two independent clauses.
Decide what kind of connection is needed
Ask: how should the two complete ideas relate?
- Idea 1: What biologists do (participate in outreach programs).
- Idea 2: Why they do it (they hope to inspire residents).
These can either be:
- Two separate sentences, or
- One sentence, but only if joined correctly (with a period, semicolon, or a comma plus a coordinating conjunction like "and," "so," etc.).
When you look at the choices, check which ones still leave only a comma between the two complete clauses and which one fixes that problem and keeps the wording smooth and natural.
Check each option and choose the one that fixes the error
Now examine the choices in the actual sentence:
- A) "programs, through" gives: "...outreach programs, through hands-on workshops, they hope..." This still leaves a comma before "they hope," so it is a comma splice.
- B) "programs through" gives: "...outreach programs through hands-on workshops, they hope..." Again, there is only a comma before "they hope," so it is still a comma splice.
- C) "programs so through" is awkward/unnatural and also leaves the same comma splice before "they hope."
- D) "programs. Through" gives: "Many wildlife biologists participate in community outreach programs. Through hands-on workshops, they hope to inspire local residents to protect endangered habitats." Now the first complete idea ends with a period, and the next sentence begins with an introductory phrase followed by a complete clause. This follows Standard English conventions.
Therefore, the correct answer is D) programs. Through.