I am a high school English teacher and am working through the official Fall 2016 PSAT study booklet (Practice Test #2) with my sophomore English classes. Just want to quickly clarify question 39 from the Writing and Language test:
One exception to this trend is Cleveland, Ohio; a great place for young artists.
(the underlined portion is… is Cleveland, Ohio; a)
A. NO CHANGE
B. is: Cleveland, Ohio, a
C. is Cleveland, Ohio—a
D. is Cleveland, Ohio (a
The correct answer is C. Can someone please give the technical explanation for why B is incorrect?
From the CB web site:
Choice C is the best answer. The passage first identifies an agricultural problem: “Consider the western corn rootworm—a beetle that’s a serious pest of corn in the United States” (jump to lines 6-7). By the conclusion of the passage, however, the way the rootworm’s “gut bacteria” (jump to line 40) aided the insect’s survival in both corn and soybean fields has been fully explained: “The team proved that the bacteria were responsible by killing them with antibiotics. Sure enough, this drastically lowered the cysteine protease activity in the guts of the rotation-resistant beetles and wrecked their ability to thrive among soybeans” (jump to lines 53-56). Overall, the passage can therefore be summarized as having a focus shifting from the identification of an agricultural problem to an explanation of its cause.
Choice A is incorrect because the passage does not state that the challenge posed by the western corn rootworm was easy to overcome. Choice B is incorrect because the passage provides virtually no biographical information about the scientists involved (other than the fact they worked at the University of Illinois). Choice D is incorrect because while the passage ends its first paragraph by stating the belief that “zoology is ecology,” it otherwise does not discuss any particular scientific field.
I think that @3scoutsmom accidently gave the explanation for #39 from the reading section. From the writing and language section:
Choice C is the best answer because the dash is appropriate in this sentence. In this case, it draws attention to the idea that Cleveland, unlike cities that are too expensive, is a great place for young artists.
Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because the semicolon, colon, and single parenthesis are all used inappropriately in this sentence. In choice A, the semicolon links an independent clause to a dependent clause. In choice B, the colon is unnecessary and should be deleted. In choice D, the single parenthesis must be paired with another parenthesis after “artists.”
All English teachers should know that a colon cannot follow “is.” A colon precedes a list of items or an independent clause that explains the previous clause