A punctuation question with a list tests whether you can tell list commas from marks around extra information. Look back from the blank for a mark that might open extra information. Then cross out the added words and check that a complete sentence remains. Commas or dashes around extra information must match at both ends. Check what each mark needs: a semicolon joins complete sentences, while a colon needs a complete sentence before it.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at the punctuation near the start of the sentence. Which marks separate items in the list, and which one begins the added description?
- Hint 2
Temporarily remove the words about the artworks. Find where the sentence picks up again, then check the punctuation at both ends of the removed words.
Step-by-step
Cross out the list and match the marks
Step 1Find what the dash opens
The dash in The exhibition—featuring begins words about what’s on display, so we need to find where those added words end. What do the commas inside that description do? The commas in sculptures, photographs, and separate the artworks being listed, and installations finishes the list in every choice. The commas separate list items; they don’t mark where the sentence picks up again.
- Step 2
Find the main verb and cross out the list
Where does the description end? Every choice gives has, so has attracted is the main verb, the verb that tells what the exhibition has done. That means the list ends before has; let’s cross out the description and its opening dash to test it. The sentence now reads: The exhibition has attracted critics from around the world. The artwork list is an insert, meaning extra information we can remove while leaving a complete sentence.
- Step 3
Close the insert with a matching mark
How do we close the insert before the exhibition’s main verb? Extra information in the middle needs matching marks, and The exhibition—featuring shows the opening dash. The version installations—has gives the second dash at the end of the list, allowing has attracted to continue the main sentence. Choice D.