Question 151·Easy·Boundaries
The agency planned to launch the new public health campaign next ______ it had not yet secured adequate funding to support the program long term.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation/boundary questions, first decide whether the words before and after the blank are complete sentences. If both are independent clauses and the options involve a coordinating conjunction like "but," you generally need a comma before the conjunction and no comma after it. Eliminate choices that create run-ons or insert extraneous commas.
Hints
Check each side of the blank
Look at the words before and after the blank: does each side form a complete sentence with a subject and a verb?
Think about how to join two complete sentences
When two complete sentences are joined by a word like "but," what punctuation is usually needed just before that word?
Watch out for extra commas
Ask yourself: do we need a comma after the joining word, or only before it?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the clauses on each side of the blank
Read the sentence with the blank covered:
- Before the blank: "The agency planned to launch the new public health campaign next month" — this is a complete clause (it has a subject and a verb and expresses a full idea).
- After the blank: "it had not yet secured adequate funding to support the program long term" — this is also a complete clause.
So, we are joining two independent clauses.
Recall the comma rule with coordinating conjunctions
When two independent clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so — FANBOYS), a comma should come before the conjunction.
So we want a structure like:
"[independent clause], but [independent clause]."
Check each answer choice against the rule
Test each option:
- "month but" (no comma) joins two independent clauses without the needed comma.
- "month but," puts the comma after the conjunction and still lacks the comma before it.
- "month, but," adds an extra comma after the conjunction, incorrectly splitting it from the clause that follows.
The only option that correctly places one comma before the coordinating conjunction and no comma after it is "month, but".
Therefore, the correct answer is "month, but".