A punctuation question tests whether the parts around a blank can stand alone. Split where the punctuation changes and find each subject and main verb: who or what does something, and what they do or are. A full sentence has both and no word that makes it depend on another sentence. Join two full sentences with a period, a semicolon, or a comma plus a joining word like and. Even a short pronoun can start a full sentence.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the part about Lena Ortiz opening the café, and ask whether it can stand alone as a sentence.
- Hint 2
When you test the part about serving breads, include the words supplied at the blank. Check whether it has its own subject and verb.
Step-by-step
Split and test both sides
Step 1Test the first part
The words baker Lena Ortiz opened a small café in Tucson tell us who did what: Ortiz is the subject, and opened is the main verb. Can this part stand alone? Yes, and naming the café Sunstone only adds to what we know about it. The first part is a full sentence.
- Step 2
Test the pronoun with its verb
Read the part after the blank: serves breads made from locally grown grains. Does it have its own subject and main verb once we add the choices' it? Yes: it means the café and is the subject of serves. This part can stand alone, even though its pronoun points back to the café.
- Step 3
Join the sentences
A comma alone can't join these full sentences, and leaving out punctuation runs them together. The version with and needs a comma before it, not a semicolon, in this short sentence. A period ends the first sentence, so called Sunstone. It gives the second one its own start. Choice A.