SAT OwlGalileo's 1610 discovery of four moons orbiting ______ Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—offered strong evidence that not every object in the heavens revolved around Earth.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
Jupiter—
Jupiter,
Jupiter:
Jupiter
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The list "Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto" interrupts the sentence to name the four moons, and it is closed by a dash after "Callisto." An interrupting element that closes with a dash must also open with one. A dash also keeps the commas inside the list from being confused with the sentence's own structure.
Choice C introduces the list with a colon, but the list ends with a dash and the sentence continues, so a matching dash is required.
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