A punctuation question with a word introducing a reason tests how the sentence's parts connect. Read the whole sentence and find where each part begins and ends. Test each part as a sentence: it needs a subject and main verb, and no word making it depend on another. A semicolon needs full sentences on both sides, while commas and dashes can set off added words. The mark's position matters as much as its kind, so check which words it separates.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at how the last sentence is built. Which words state something about the bridge, and which words explain why?
- Hint 2
Include the word that introduces the reason when you find the whole reason. Then ask whether a mark after that word would fall between sentence parts or inside one part.
Step-by-step
Find the parts, then test the mark
Step 1Find the complete first part
The bridge is notable has a subject, bridge, and a main verb, is, which tells us what the bridge is. That makes it a full sentence that can stand alone. What does the rest add? It gives the reason the bridge is notable, so we need to see how that reason attaches.
- Step 2
Locate the whole reason
Where does the reason begin? Every choice gives a word that introduces the reason, which continues with it was the first in the city and the words that follow. That opening word makes the whole reason depend on the first part, even though it and was provide a subject and main verb.
- Step 3
Check the mark's exact position
Now check where each proposed mark would go: after the reason word and before it was the first. A word introducing a reason must stay with the words it introduces, so nothing separates because from it here. The version with because and no mark keeps those words together. Choice D.