Question 7·Easy·Boundaries
The community garden's mission focuses on educating residents _____ sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship through hands-on workshops and volunteer opportunities.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For punctuation-within-a-sentence questions, first identify the grammatical unit around the blank (such as a prepositional phrase or verb phrase). Ask whether the words before the punctuation form a complete sentence; if not, a colon or semicolon is almost always wrong. Then decide if the meaning calls for a real interruption (dash, comma) or a smooth continuation; never place punctuation between a preposition and its object or inside a tight unit like a verb plus its direct object unless you are clearly inserting extra, removable information.
Hints
Look at the phrase around the blank
Read from "educating residents" through the list that follows. How does the sentence show what residents are being educated on?
Decide if there should be a pause or break
Ask yourself whether there is a natural pause or shift in thought right after the blank, or if the sentence should flow smoothly from "educating residents" into the list of topics.
Think about what colons and dashes require
A colon usually comes after a complete sentence to introduce a list or explanation. A dash creates a strong interruption. Do the words before the blank form a complete sentence that should be broken by such punctuation?
Check preposition-object pairs
Would it ever be correct to put a comma, dash, or colon directly between a preposition and the words that complete its meaning?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the core sentence structure
Strip the sentence to its core:
- "The community garden's mission focuses on educating residents ___ sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship..."
The verb phrase is "focuses on educating residents ___ sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship." The blank belongs inside this verb phrase, connecting "educating residents" to what they are being educated on.
Determine what type of word belongs in the blank
We need a word that shows the relationship between "educating residents" and the topics: "sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship."
A preposition (like "about") correctly links "educating residents" to its object (the list of topics). There is no natural pause or break in thought here, so any extra punctuation would interrupt the grammar.
Recall punctuation rules for comma, dash, and colon
Consider what each punctuation mark does:
- A comma often sets off extra information or separates items in a list, but it should not separate a preposition from its object.
- A dash (—) creates a strong break or interruption in thought.
- A colon (:) must follow a complete sentence (an independent clause) and then introduce a list, explanation, or example.
Here, the words before the blank ("educating residents ___") are not a complete sentence on their own, so a colon would be ungrammatical. A dash or comma would also create an unnecessary break between the preposition and its object.
Match the rule to the best answer choice
We need a plain preposition directly followed by its object without any separating punctuation: "educating residents about sustainable agriculture, nutrition, and environmental stewardship."
Therefore, the correct choice is D) about.