DSAT MED PUNCTUATIONS

In 2008, two years after the death of science fiction writer Octavia Butler, the Huntington Library in ______ received a collection of more than 8,000 items, including Butler’s private notes, research materials, manuscripts, photos, and drawings. Today, the Octavia E. Butler Collection is one of the most researched archives at the library.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A.California,

• B.California:

• C. California—

• D. California

Eli Eisenberg, a genetics expert at Tel Aviv University in Israel, recently discovered that ______ have a special genetic ability called RNA editing that confers evolutionary advantages.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. cephalopods, ocean dwellers that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttlefish

• B. cephalopods—ocean dwellers—that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttlefish,

• C. cephalopods, ocean dwellers that include: the squid, the octopus, and the cuttlefish,

• D. cephalopods—ocean dwellers that include the squid, the octopus, and the cuttlefish—

The city of Pompeii, which was buried in ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, continues to be studied by archaeologists. Unfortunately, as ______ attest, archaeological excavations have disrupted ash deposits at the site, causing valuable information about the eruption to be lost.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. researchers, Roberto Scandone and Christopher Kilburn,

• B. researchers, Roberto Scandone and Christopher Kilburn

• C. researchers Roberto Scandone and Christopher Kilburn

• D. researchers Roberto Scandone, and Christopher Kilburn

Santa Clara Pueblo artist Roxanne Swentzell’s sculpture Mud Woman Rolls On consists of five human figures made of clay and plant fiber and arranged in descending size; each figure holds the smaller one in front of it. The arrangement of the figures, according to ______ represents her idea that “we all come from the Earth, generation after generation.”

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. Swentzell

• B. Swentzell,

• C. Swentzell:

• D. Swentzell—

It is generally true that technological change is a linear process, in which once-useful technologies are replaced by new and better ______ the reawakening of interest in the steam engine (from advocates of carbon-neutral rail travel) reminds us that ostensibly obsolete technologies may be brought back into service to address society’s changing needs.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. ones, even so;

• B. ones even so,

• C. ones; even so,

• D. ones, even so,

The forty-seven geothermal springs of Arkansas’ Hot Springs National Park are sourced via a process known as natural groundwater recharge, in which rainwater percolates downward through the earth—in this case, the porous rocks of the hills around Hot ______ collect in a subterranean basin.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. Springs to

• B. Springs: to

• C. Springs—to

• D. Springs, to

According to Naomi Nakayama of the University of Edinburgh, the reason seeds from a dying dandelion appear to float in the air while ______ is that their porous plumes enhance drag, allowing the seeds to stay airborne long enough for the wind to disperse them throughout the surrounding area.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. falling,

• B. falling:

• C. falling;

• D. falling

A conceptual artist and designer embraced by both the art world and the fashion ______ Mary Ping was chosen to curate the exhibition Front Row: Chinese American Designers for the Museum of Chinese in America.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. world

• B. world:

• C. world;

• D. world,

Luci Tapahonso is the inaugural poet laureate of the Navajo Nation. Her book Sáanii Dahataal/The Women Are Singing—a combination of fiction and memoir, poetry and ______ serves as a testament to her versatility as a writer.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. prose;

• B. prose

• C. prose,

• D. prose—

Swedish scientists Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann developed a method for measuring the concentration of different proteins in a biological sample. Their ______ ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), is used to detect and measure proteins that indicate the presence of certain diseases.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

• A. method (called

• B. method—called

• C. method, called

• D. method called