A punctuation question tests how you join the parts on either side of a blank. Split the sentence at the blank, then find who or what each side is about and what it does or is. Ask whether an opening word makes either side depend on the other. Two full sentences need a period, semicolon, or comma plus a joining word; an opening part that can't stand alone needs a comma. The punctuation depends on how the sentence is built, not on where you pause.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the words from Because to the blank. Ask whether they give a complete thought on their own.
- Hint 2
Check the words after the blank for a complete sentence. Is the blank joining two complete sentences, or attaching an opening part to one?
Step-by-step
Split and test each part
Step 1Test the opening reason
The text begins Because the museum will be closed, so read the opening part up to the blank and test whether it can stand alone. Could we end the sentence there? We know what's happening to the museum, but Because makes those words give a reason for what comes next. That means the opening part can't stand alone.
- Step 2
Test the words after the blank
After the blank, visitors are encouraged tells us who the words are about and what happens to them. Can those words and the rest stand alone? They tell visitors to view the special exhibit before the museum closes. No opening word makes that thought depend on another sentence, so this part forms a full sentence.
- Step 3
Attach the opening part
How do we attach an opening reason to visitors are encouraged? A comma closes an opening part that can't stand alone, keeping it joined to the full sentence that follows. The version month, puts that comma right before visitors, where the opening reason ends. Choice C.