A punctuation question with extra information tests whether you can find where a side detail begins and ends. Read around the blank and find the main clause, the part that can stand alone as a sentence. Then check how the other words connect to it. Commas and dashes can set off a side detail, with matching marks at its ends. A semicolon joins complete sentences; a colon follows a complete sentence and introduces an explanation, example, or list.
Hints
- Hint 1
Find the proposal's main verb and trace back to where the main part of the sentence begins.
- Hint 2
Try crossing out the words beginning with voiced. Does the remaining sentence still connect the committee's reservations to the proposal's approval?
- Hint 3
Test the sentence boundaries. Which groups of words can stand alone, and which depend on the rest?
Step-by-step
Cross out and match
Step 1Find the main part
The sentence starts with Despite the committee's initial reservations, which tells us what stood in the way of the proposal's approval. Where does the main part of the sentence begin? It starts at the proposal, and ultimately won unanimous approval tells us what the proposal did. The blank comes before this main part, so we need to check how the opening words attach to it. The words beginning with Despite can't stand alone as a sentence.
- Step 2
Test the extra detail
What does voiced by its most senior describe? It tells us who expressed the reservations, so voiced describes those reservations rather than acting as the proposal's main verb. To test whether it's extra information, cross out that description through members, the word in every choice. The remaining sentence runs from Despite the committee's initial reservations, straight into the proposal to retrofit the century-old courthouse with geothermal heating ultimately won unanimous approval. Because that sentence still works, the description is an insert, a side detail the sentence can do without.
- Step 3
Match the opening mark
The comma in reservations, voiced opens the insert, so which mark can close it? An insert inside a sentence ends with the same kind of mark that opened it. A semicolon joins complete sentences, and a colon needs a complete sentence before it, so neither can follow this opening phrase; the version with a dash would mix marks. The comma after members closes the detail before the main sentence begins. Choice D.