Question 7·Easy·Boundaries
During her lecture, Dr. Nguyen emphasized the importance of clear communication in science, encouraging students to write not only for specialists ______ for the general public.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
For Standard English questions involving connecting words and punctuation, first identify the structure of the sentence (what ideas or phrases are being linked). Watch for common correlative conjunctions like “either … or,” “neither … nor,” and “not only … but also,” and remember that their parts must stay together without extra punctuation wedged inside them. Then eliminate any answer choice that introduces unnecessary commas, periods, or semicolons that break up these pairs or create sentence fragments.
Hints
Look at the two groups being connected
Focus on the part: “to write not only for specialists ______ for the general public.” What words are needed to connect these two matching phrases smoothly?
Notice the phrase that starts the pair
The sentence already uses “not only” before the first group. Think of the common two-part pattern this phrase belongs to, and what must appear before the second group.
Check how punctuation affects the connection
For each choice, ask: does the comma, period, or semicolon create an unnecessary break between words that should work together as a single connector?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the structure of the sentence
Read the key part of the sentence: “encouraging students to write not only for specialists ______ for the general public.”
The writer is listing two parallel groups of people students should write for:
- for specialists
- for the general public
We need words in the blank that smoothly and correctly link these two parallel phrases.
Recognize the correlative conjunction pattern
The phrase “not only” is part of a correlative conjunction pair (a two-part connector) that links two similar ideas. In Standard English, when you see “not only” before the first item, you should expect its partner phrase before the second item.
Here, that partner phrase must come right before “for the general public” and stay together as one unit. Any extra punctuation between its two words would break the pair and interrupt the sentence flow.
Eliminate options with incorrect punctuation and choose the correct one
Now check each option:
- A) but, also – the comma splits “but” and “also,” breaking the correlative pair.
- B) but. Also – the period ends the sentence and leaves “Also for the general public” as a fragment.
- C) but; also – a semicolon is used between two independent clauses, but here it wrongly separates the two parts of the pair.
- D) but also – keeps the two words together with no unnecessary punctuation, correctly completing the correlative conjunction.
Therefore, the correct answer is D) but also.