A punctuation question with a joining word tests whether you can tell where full sentences meet. Split the text around the joining word, then ask who or what each side is about and what happens. Test whether each side can stand alone, because words such as because can leave a thought unfinished. A semicolon joins full sentences on its own; a comma joins them with a coordinating conjunction, a joining word such as and or but. Check the whole join, not how it sounds.
Hints
- Hint 1
Start before the blank and find the subject and main verb. Who is the sentence about, and what does that person or group do?
- Hint 2
Now check whether the words after the blank can stand alone. Look for who or what that part is about and the verb that says what happens.
Step-by-step
Test both sides of the join
Step 1Test the first side
Start with Many graffiti artists value and finish the thought with walls, which every choice includes. Who does what? The subject is the artists, the people we're talking about, and the main verb value tells us what they do. That gives us a full sentence on the first side.
- Step 2
Test the second side
Can the words after the blank stand on their own? In their most striking pieces are often carefully planned, the pieces are the subject and are planned is the main verb. It tells us what happens to the pieces, so both sides are full sentences.
- Step 3
Use the comma and joining word
At outdoor _____ their most striking pieces, we need to join two full sentences with but. The comma and joining word work as a pair, so the comma goes before but and no mark goes after it. The version walls, but has that pair without an extra mark between but and the subject that follows. Choice D.