A punctuation question with a descriptive phrase tests where extra information begins and ends. Read around the blank to find the description, then cross it out to see whether the sentence still works. Extra information in the middle of a sentence needs matching marks: paired commas, dashes, or parentheses. Use no mark between words needed to complete the main sentence. Check sentence breaks too, because a colon needs a full sentence before it and a semicolon needs one on each side.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read past the blank and find where the venue’s description ends. What punctuation is already there?
- Hint 2
Cross out the venue’s description and read what remains. What does that tell you about how the description fits into the sentence?
Step-by-step
Cross out and match the marks
Step 1Find where the description ends
The words venue renowned for staging socially conscious dramas describe the Glendale Theatre, so we're choosing punctuation around a description. Where does the main sentence pick up again? It picks up at drew widespread critical praise, which says what the premiere did, so the description ends before the main verb.
- Step 2
Test the sentence without the description
Can we cross out that description? The sentence still says that the premiere at the Glendale Theatre drew widespread critical praise, so the description is extra information we can remove. Before the blank, the premiere has no main verb yet. A colon or semicolon needs a full sentence before it, so either would split the sentence too soon.
- Step 3
Match the opening and closing marks
The comma in dramas, drew already closes the description, so what must open it at the blank? Extra information in the middle of a sentence needs matching marks, which means a comma must open this one. Theatre, a adds it, while the version with no punctuation leaves that closing comma without a partner. Choice C.