A joining question with punctuation and linking words tests how parts of a sentence connect. Split at the blank and look for who or what each side is about and what they do or are. Then ask: Can each side stand alone? Two full sentences need a period, a semicolon, or a comma with a joining word. A part that can’t stand alone must attach to the full sentence, so don’t decide from the pause you hear.
Hints
- Hint 1
Split at the blank. On the left, find what the smartphone model does; on the right, find what the early reviews do.
- Hint 2
Ask whether each side can stand alone. Does either side need words from the other to finish its thought?
Step-by-step
Split and join
Step 1Test the first part
Read the words before the blank: The new smartphone model offers significantly improved battery life. To decide how to join this to what follows, find its subject, who or what it’s about, and main verb, what it does. They’re model and offers, so this part can stand alone.
- Step 2
Test the second part
Can the words after the blank stand alone? In early reviews also praise its upgraded camera system, reviews is the subject and praise is the main verb. There’s no word making this part depend on the first, so it forms a second full sentence.
- Step 3
Join the sentences
What can connect two full sentences? A period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a joining word can do that job; a comma by itself can’t. Here, and is the joining word, so life, and gives us both the comma and joining word to connect the sentences about battery life and the camera. Choice D.