A punctuation question with a phrase near the blank tests where full sentences begin and end. Split at the blank, then find a subject and main verb on each side. Read past any describing phrase to see whether a full sentence follows it. Test whether each side can stand alone: two full sentences need a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a joining word like and. A phrase between them doesn't do the work of joining them.
Hints
- Hint 1
In the words before the blank, find the subject and main verb. Once the project's name is complete, can those words stand alone?
- Hint 2
Look for the subject and main verb after the time phrase. Test the whole second part, not the time phrase alone, to decide whether it can stand as a sentence.
Step-by-step
Read past the phrase
Step 1Test the first part
Before the blank, archaeologists began surveying gives us a subject, archaeologists, and a main verb, began. To find where this sentence can end, ask what calling the project the Desert Paths adds. It tells us the project's name rather than starting another sentence, so once that name is complete, the first part can stand alone.
- Step 2
Read through the second part
What about the words after the project's name? The words for nearly three months tell us how long something lasted, but they can't stand alone as a sentence. We need to read through the whole second part. In the survey documented, survey is a subject and documented is a main verb, so a full sentence follows the opening phrase. The describing phrase belongs with the survey, since that's what continued for three months, and it can open the survey's sentence.
- Step 3
Place the sentence boundary
Which choice gives these full sentences a correct sentence boundary? A period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a joining word can join two full sentences, but a comma alone can't. In Initiative. Continuing, the period ends the archaeologists' sentence, and Continuing opens the sentence about the survey. The comma after for nearly three months closes that opening phrase rather than joining full sentences. Choice C.