SAT OwlResearchers in Seoul, South Korea, wanted to know whether wild magpies could tell individual people ______ To find out, they had one person climb to the birds' nests several times while others simply walked nearby. Later, the magpies scolded and chased the climber but largely ignored the other people.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
apart?
apart,
apart.
apart
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
The first sentence is a statement about what the researchers wanted to know. It contains an indirect question ("whether wild magpies could..."), which ends with a period, not a question mark. A comma would create a comma splice, and no punctuation would create a run-on.
Choice A is tempting because the sentence describes a question, but an indirect question reported in a statement ends with a period.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. A question mark is incorrect here because the sentence is a statement containing an indirect question, not a direct inquiry.
- B. A comma creates a comma splice, which improperly joins two independent clauses without a conjunction.
- D. Omitting punctuation results in a run-on sentence, failing to properly end the statement about the researchers' goal.
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