Reading and Writing

Standard English Conventions

Q: Show answer and explanation

B. floor;. The blank falls between two independent clauses (“the crew . . . used sonar to map . . . the sea floor” and “the resulting maps revealed . . .”), and a semicolon correctly joins them. A comma alone creates a comma splice, no punctuation creates a run-on, and in “floor, and,” the comma after “and” wrongly separates the conjunction from the clause it introduces.

Edit texts to follow core conventions of sentence structure, usage and punctuation.

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Skill/knowledge testing points

Boundaries10 original questions

Form, Structure, and Sense11 original questions

Domain drill

21 original questions in this domain (7 easier, 7 mixed, 7 harder).

Sample question

During a six-week expedition in the South Pacific, the crew of a research vessel used sonar to map an unexplored stretch of the sea ______ the resulting maps revealed three previously unknown underwater volcanoes, one rising nearly two kilometers above the seabed.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

floor,
floor;
floor
floor, and,

Show answer and explanation

B. floor;. The blank falls between two independent clauses (“the crew . . . used sonar to map . . . the sea floor” and “the resulting maps revealed . . .”), and a semicolon correctly joins them. A comma alone creates a comma splice, no punctuation creates a run-on, and in “floor, and,” the comma after “and” wrongly separates the conjunction from the clause it introduces.