Question the-fi
The field of geological oceanography owes much to American blank Marie Tharp, a pioneering oceanographic cartographer whose detailed topographical maps of the ocean floor and its multiple rift valleys helped garner acceptance for the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
geologist,
geologist
geologist;
geologist:
The field of geological oceanography owes much to American ______ blank Marie Tharp, a pioneering oceanographic
Hard-difficulty · SAT Reading & Writing · Boundaries — Parenthetical punctuation: commas, dashes, parentheses. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice B is the best answer. “Marie tharp” is essential information that completes the first clause — the first clause doesn’t function without it. So we don’t want to separate it with punctuation.
Choice A is incorrect. This choice creates a punctuation error. “The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist” is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the “Marie Tharp” for clarity, which means it’s essential information and should not be separated by a comma. Choice C is incorrect. This choice creates a punctuation error. “The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist” is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the “Marie Tharp” for clarity, which means it’s essential information and should not be separated by a semicolon. Choice D is incorrect. This choice creates a punctuation error. “The field of geological oceanography owes much to American geologist” is unclear: which geologist are we talking about? We need the “Marie Tharp” for clarity, which means it’s essential information and should not be separated by a colon.
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