Katsushika Hokusai's woodblock print The Great Wave off Kanagawa, which was produced around ______ depicts a towering wave about to crash over three boats while Mount Fuji sits small in the distance.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
1831—
1831;
1831
1831,
Answer: D
The clause "which was produced around 1831" interrupts the sentence between the subject (the print) and the verb "depicts." It opens with a comma, so it must close with a comma. A dash would not match, and no punctuation would leave the clause unclosed.
Choice C leaves the interrupting clause open, so the sentence reads as if "1831 depicts" belong together.
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