PSAT Writing and Language Question 274: Answer and Explanation

Question: 274

• A. NO CHANGE
• B. frescoes, the team
• C. frescoes and the team
• D. frescoes the team

Correct Answer: A

Explanation:

Difficulty: Medium

Getting to the Answer: Analyze both the types of clauses and the relationship between their ideas to determine how they should be punctuated. The clause before the punctuation is an independent clause, a complete thought with subject-verb: "the restorers did not achieve." The clause after the punctuation is also an independent clause with subject-verb: "the team removed." The ideas of the clauses are closely related: the first sentence states that the "effect" was not "merely" the result of "removing the dirt and animal glue," and the second sentence explains what else was done to achieve the effect ("remov[ing] Michelangelo's final touches"). Since the part of the sentence before the punctuation is an independent clause and the second part helps to explain the first, a colon effectively punctuates these two closely related clauses, so (A) is correct. The other choices create run-on sentences by improperly joining two independent clauses.