OpenSAT

Question #N1025

A new study by the University of California, Berkeley, found that the effects of climate change are more severe in certain regions of the world. The study's authors, a team of climate scientists, report that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. The study also found that the effects of climate change are more likely to be felt by people who live in coastal areas, due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity. As a result of their findings, the authors recommend that governments take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change in these vulnerable regions.

Which of the following choices most effectively combines the sentences at the underlined portion to create a grammatically correct and stylistically consistent sentence?

A. The study's authors, a team of climate scientists, report that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, and they also found that the effects of climate change are more likely to be felt by people who live in coastal areas, due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

B. The study's authors, a team of climate scientists, report that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet; they also found that the effects of climate change are more likely to be felt by people who live in coastal areas, due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

C. The study's authors, a team of climate scientists, report that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet, the study also found that the effects of climate change are more likely to be felt by people who live in coastal areas, due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

D. The study's authors, a team of climate scientists, report that the Arctic is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the planet; the effects of climate change are more likely to be felt by people who live in coastal areas, due to rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

Reveal Answer Go Back

Correct Answer is: D

Choice D is the best answer because it uses a semicolon to correctly separate the two independent clauses. The semicolon is the appropriate punctuation mark for joining two closely related independent clauses. The other choices are incorrect. Choice A creates a comma splice, which is an error. Choice B creates a run-on sentence, which is an error. Choice C is incorrect because it incorrectly uses a comma to separate the two clauses.