A punctuation question that also changes wording tests whether the parts can stand alone as sentences. Split where the choices change, and test each side as a sentence. A full sentence needs a subject and a main verb telling what it does or is, with no word making it depend on another sentence. Join full sentences with a period, semicolon, or comma plus a joining word like and; attach a dependent part with a comma or no mark.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for who did what before the blank, starting with “the method.” Could that part stand alone once the missing noun is added?
- Hint 2
The words beginning with how include the artist’s verb. Check for a main verb outside that group to decide whether the whole ending can stand alone.
Step-by-step
Split and test the ending
Step 1Find the complete first part
The words the method exposed earlier layers give us a subject, method, and a main verb, exposed, which tells what the method did. Can the first part stand alone? Yes, once the missing noun is added, this part is complete because the opening phrase about pigments only tells how the method worked. The first part can stand alone, so let's test the ending.
- Step 2
Test what makes the ending a sentence
Can how the artist had repositioned the sitter’s hand make the whole ending a sentence? Those words tell what was revealed, so the whole ending still needs its own subject and main verb. The version with it revealed gives it both, but its comma creates a comma splice, two full sentences joined with only a comma. The period before Which revealed also fails because Which makes that ending depend on the earlier sentence.
- Step 3
Attach the result with a comma
How does revealing work with the method exposed earlier layers? It describes what exposing those layers showed, but it has no subject or helper such as was to make it a new sentence. A period before Revealing would leave a fragment, a group of words that can't stand alone. The comma in surface, revealing attaches the result to the full sentence instead of breaking it off. Choice A.