Question 63·Hard·Boundaries
During the height of the Renaissance, workshops in Florence developed a novel business model: a master artist would design a composition, apprentice painters would execute much of the underpainting, and the master would return to add the final flourishes. The arrangement proved so effective that soon painting was no longer the solitary pursuit of a single _____ coordinated effort resembling a modern assembly line.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
On punctuation-boundary items, first test whether the text before and after the blank are independent clauses. If the second part is an explanation/specification and not a full clause, a colon is typically appropriate. Avoid semicolons unless both sides are full clauses, and watch for comma splices or misattached phrases.
Hints
Clause test
Determine whether the text before the blank can stand alone as a complete sentence.
Look at what follows
Ask whether the words after the blank form a complete clause or simply name/clarify something.
Match punctuation to job
Semicolons join two independent clauses; colons introduce explanations or specifications; a lone comma cannot correctly link independent elements.
Step-by-step Explanation
Check clause completeness before the blank
Read up to the blank: "painting was no longer the solitary pursuit of a single genius" is a complete clause.
Identify what follows the blank
After the blank comes "a coordinated effort resembling a modern assembly line," which is a noun phrase (not an independent clause) that explains what painting had become.
Match punctuation to function
A colon appropriately connects a complete clause to an explanation or specification. Semicolons require a full clause after them; a comma cannot connect such structures without the right conjunction; and adding ", it became a" would create a comma splice.
Select the correct choice
Choose the option that correctly creates this relationship: genius: a. The completed sentence reads: "...no longer the solitary pursuit of a single genius: a coordinated effort resembling a modern assembly line."