A punctuation question about extra information tests how a description fits into a sentence. When choices change the mark after a description, find where the main sentence continues. Cross out the description to check whether the words left form a complete sentence. Commas and dashes around extra information must match; a semicolon joins two complete sentences, while a colon follows a complete sentence and introduces an explanation or example. Use these rules, not the sound of a pause.
Hints
- Hint 1
In the sentence about solving puzzles, find the words that tell what the octopuses do. What comes between Octopuses and those words?
- Hint 2
Cross out the description beginning with known for and read what's left. If the sentence still works, check where the description starts and ends.
Step-by-step
Find the description and match its marks
Step 1Find where the main sentence continues
The comma in Octopuses, known for their remarkable starts a phrase describing the octopuses. Where do we learn what the octopuses do? Look ahead to can solve, their main verb, which tells us what they can do. The description sits between Octopuses and its main verb.
- Step 2
Test the description by crossing it out
Can we cross out that description without breaking the sentence? Remove known for their remarkable along with the shared word intelligence, and the remaining words say that octopuses can solve puzzles and escape from enclosures. The sentence still works, so the description is extra information we can leave out, ending right before the main verb.
- Step 3
Close the description with a matching mark
Which mark can close the description? The closing mark must match the opening mark, so the comma in Octopuses, calls for another comma before can solve. The version with intelligence, adds that closing comma at the end of the description. Choice C.