Question 4·Easy·Boundaries
Paula wrote in an email to her colleagues that she plans to review the quarterly _____ a comprehensive document outlining the team's progress and goals, before the Friday meeting.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? ЅАТ prер bу Аnіkο.аі
For punctuation/boundaries questions, first decide what the underlined portion is doing in the sentence: Is it joining two full sentences, introducing a list, or setting off extra information? Then check what comes immediately before and after the blank. If the phrase in the middle is removable, it is likely nonessential; look for matching punctuation on both sides (commas or dashes). Eliminate options whose punctuation doesn’t fit the structure: semicolons must have full sentences on both sides, colons need a complete sentence before them and typically introduce a significant explanation or list, and dashes used for interruptions should come in pairs if the phrase is in the middle of a sentence.
Hints
Check if the middle phrase is removable
Try reading the sentence without the words "a comprehensive document outlining the team's progress and goals." Does the sentence still make sense?
Look at the comma after "goals"
There is already a comma after the descriptive phrase and before "before the Friday meeting." Think about what punctuation should appear before the phrase so that the sentence stays balanced.
Recall how we punctuate extra descriptions
When a phrase in the middle of a sentence adds extra, nonessential information, what punctuation marks are typically used to set it off from the rest of the sentence?
Consider what each mark normally does
A colon or semicolon usually connects larger sentence parts. Ask yourself which options are appropriate for separating an inserted description from the rest of the sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify how the middle phrase functions
Look at the phrase "a comprehensive document outlining the team's progress and goals." It renames and further describes "the quarterly report." If you remove this middle phrase, the sentence still reads smoothly:
"Paula wrote in an email to her colleagues that she plans to review the quarterly report before the Friday meeting."
Because the sentence works without that phrase, the phrase is nonessential (extra information) and needs to be set off from the rest of the sentence with punctuation.
Notice the existing punctuation after the phrase
After the descriptive phrase, the sentence continues:
"... outlining the team's progress and goals, before the Friday meeting."
There is already a comma after "goals". That comma is closing off the nonessential phrase on the right side. Whatever you choose for the blank must properly open that same nonessential phrase on the left side and match the punctuation style.
Match the punctuation rules to the sentence structure
For a nonessential phrase in the middle of a sentence, you typically:
- Use commas on both sides, or
- Use dashes on both sides, or
- Use parentheses on both sides.
You do not normally start a nonessential phrase with a colon or semicolon, and you cannot mix a dash on one side with a comma on the other. Also, note that a semicolon must be followed by an independent clause, and here the phrase beginning with "a comprehensive document" is not a complete sentence.
Choose the punctuation that correctly sets off the phrase
Because the phrase is nonessential and there is already a comma after it, the punctuation before it must also be a comma to set it off correctly:
"Paula wrote in an email to her colleagues that she plans to review the quarterly report, a comprehensive document outlining the team's progress and goals, before the Friday meeting."
So the correct choice is D) report, a comprehensive document.