Typically, underlines, scribbles, and notes left in the margins by a former owner lower a book’s ______blank when the former owner is a famous poet like Walt Whitman, such markings, known as marginalia, can be a gold mine to literary scholars.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Choice A is the best answer. The convention being tested is the coordination of independent clauses within a sentence. An independent clause is a phrase containing a subject and a verb that can stand on its own as a sentence. This choice uses a comma and the coordinating conjunction “but” to join the first independent clause (“underlines…lower a book’s value”) and the second independent clause (“such markings…can be a gold mine to scholars”) to create a compound sentence.
Choice B is incorrect because it results in a run-on sentence. The two independent clauses are fused without punctuation and/or a conjunction. Choice C is incorrect because it results in a comma splice. A comma can’t be used in this way to mark the boundary between two independent clauses. Choice D is incorrect because a comma is needed to mark the boundary between two coordinated independent clauses.
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