A punctuation question with a list tests where the list begins and its items end. First, find the mark's job: does it introduce a list or separate its items? Then test which words can stand alone as a sentence. Outside a list, periods and semicolons divide full sentences; commas separate list items, and colons introduce lists after full sentences. A pause in reading isn't enough to tell you which mark belongs.
Hints
- Hint 1
Cover the words after the punctuation being tested. Check whether the words left can stand alone as a sentence.
- Hint 2
Look for a main verb after the blank. Are the words about fitness and strength a full sentence or a list?
Step-by-step
Test the words on both sides
Step 1Check the words before the mark
Cover everything after benefits, the word every choice shares. Can the words left stand alone? With benefits added, Cycling offers many health tells us what cycling offers, so the words before the mark form a full sentence. Let's read what follows to see whether it's another sentence or a list.
- Step 2
Test the words that follow
Can improved cardiovascular fitness and increased muscle strength stand alone? These words name two benefits, but they have no main verb to say what either one does: improved and increased describe fitness and strength. What follows is a list, not a full sentence. A period or semicolon would leave a fragment, a group of words that can't stand alone.
- Step 3
Introduce the list
How do we introduce these examples of health benefits? A comma separates items within a list, while a colon introduces a list after a full sentence. Use benefits: to connect improved cardiovascular fitness and increased muscle strength to the full sentence before the blank. Choice B.