Explanation
Choice B is the best answer. The convention being tested is punctuation use between a clause and supplementary elements. The comma after “death” is used to separate the independent clause (“Her influence … death”) from the supplementary adverb “however.” The colon after “however” is used to mark the boundary between the clause (“Her influence … death”) and the following clause (“the victories … later”). A colon can be used to introduce a list or a summary of information. In this case, the colon after “however” introduces an example of how her influence continued to spread after her death through the victories she helped bring that lifted French morale and laid the foundation for triumph decades later.
Choice A: It results in a comma splice. A comma cannot be used in this way to join two clauses (“Her influence … death” and “the victories … later”) such as these.
Choice C: It results in a run-on sentence. The two clauses (“Her influence … death” and “the victories … later”) are fused without punctuation. In addition, the sentence is missing the proper punctuation between the clause (“Her influence … death”) and the supplementary adverb “however.”
Choice D: Although a period can be used to separate two independent clauses, the supplementary adverb “however” is incorrectly separated from the preceding independent clause (“Her influence … death”), suggesting that the following independent clause (“the victories … later”) provides contradictory information to the preceding clause.
✨ Expert's Tip ✨
- Identify whether a supplementary adverb is referring to the previous sentence or the following sentence.
- When listing items or summarizing an information, a colon or dash can be used.