OpenSAT

Question #N1191

The team members wanted to make their research relevant to as wide an audience as possible. One of the members of the research team noted that, because of the way they had designed their research, the team’s findings were only useful to those who already had a strong background in the field of research. "Our results can be applied to many other situations, but only if people know a lot about what we already know, which is a problem," she said. The team members decided to adjust their research methods to make the results more accessible.

Which choice best combines the sentences at the underlined portion to create a grammatically correct and stylistically effective sentence?

A. but only if people know a lot about what we already know, which is a problem."

B. but only if people know a lot about what we already know, which is a problem.

C. but only if people know a lot about what we already know which is a problem.

D. but only if people know a lot about what we already know; which is a problem.

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Correct Answer is: B

Choice B is the best answer because it correctly uses a comma and a conjunction to combine the two sentences. Choices A and C are incorrect because they are comma splices, and Choice D is incorrect because it uses a semicolon incorrectly. Semicolons can be used to combine two independent clauses, but the two clauses in the underlined portion are not independent clauses.