A punctuation question with an aside and a list tests two jobs at once. First, cover the aside, the extra words that interrupt the main sentence, and ask where that sentence could end. Then read what follows to see whether it stands alone or names things the sentence introduces. A semicolon joins complete sentences, while a colon introduces a list or explanation after a complete sentence. Use commas to separate an aside from the words around it.
Hints
- Hint 1
Cover it should be noted and test the statement about the three letters. Can it stand alone when you read through account?
- Hint 2
Look for a complete statement after the blank. Do words like conflicts make a full statement, or do they belong inside descriptions of the date, remark, and meeting?
- Hint 3
Work out two jobs separately: how the date, remark, and meeting relate to the inconsistencies, and where it should be noted belongs. What punctuation does each job call for?
Step-by-step
Separate the aside from the list
Step 1Find the complete statement
Cover it should be noted and read through account, which every choice supplies. Can those words stand alone? Only three letters finally expose inconsistencies in that account tells us who does what and completes the thought. The main sentence is complete, so we're choosing how to attach the extra phrase and what follows.
- Step 2
Test the words after the blank
Read after the blank: can the rest stand alone? a voyage date that conflicts with the narrator's chronology starts a list of the inconsistencies, followed by a remark and a meeting. The word conflicts belongs to the description beginning with that, so it doesn't turn the list into a full sentence. The other items also name things without making complete statements, which means the list can't stand alone.
- Step 3
Set off the aside
Put it should be noted back after the statement about the letters. What job does this phrase do? It comments on Only three letters finally expose inconsistencies without being needed to complete that statement, so it's an aside, extra words you can remove. A comma sets the aside off from the statement, which rules out account it should be noted:.
- Step 4
Introduce the list
A colon can follow a full sentence and introduce a list that explains it, even when an aside ends that sentence. The items spell out the inconsistencies, so the colon goes after the aside, immediately before the list. That gives us account, it should be noted:. Choice C.