A punctuation question tests how sentence parts connect when the choices change marks and joining words. Split at the blank and ask whether each side can stand alone: does it name someone or something and say what it does or is without leaving you waiting for more? Two full sentences need the right punctuation: a semicolon without a joining word, or a comma with a joining word like and. A comma alone can't join them. Decide from the words, not from where you'd pause.
Hints
- Hint 1
Split the text at the blank. Can the words before it stand alone, even with the opening time phrase?
- Hint 2
Check the part about allocating public land. Does it say who does something and what they do, so that it could be a sentence on its own?
Step-by-step
Test both sides of the join
Step 1Test the first side
The words demand for community gardens give us the subject, what the first side is about. To choose the join, let's ask: can this side stand alone? It has the main verb has risen, which says what happened to that subject. The opening time phrase adds when it happened, so the first side is a full sentence.
- Step 2
Look for a second subject
Does the part about public land have its own subject? Yes: cities names who acts, and now allocate public land for urban agriculture tells us what they do. This side can also stand alone. Because cities do the allocating, we aren't looking at one subject doing two things.
- Step 3
Join two full sentences
Two full sentences can be separated by a period or semicolon, or a comma and a joining word can work as a pair. The version sharply, and cities uses that pair. Its comma marks the end of the first full sentence, and and links it to the next. Choice A.