Q5: Punctuation and prepositions

Understanding the topic

The instruction here is stricter than it looks: repunctuate without splitting a sentence and without adding or changing a single word, so every fix has to come from marks alone.

(a) Punctuation

(i) The cordless vacuum, one of the least interesting of the household appliances, got its start as a moon drill.

Commas fence the appositive that interrupts subject and verb.

(iv) The film critic said, "One of the most misquoted lines in movie history is 'Play it again, Sam.'"

A quotation inside a quotation takes single marks, and the full stop sits inside both.

(v) Poorly named animals include the flying fox, which is really a bat; the electric eel, which is really a knifefish; and the honey badger, which is the only member of its genus and species!

When list items already contain commas, semicolons separate them. The colon after "include" goes, because a colon should not split a verb from its object.

(vii) Most carnivorous plants attract and digest insects and other invertebrates, but some large pitcher plants have been known to digest frogs, rodents, and other vertebrates.

A comma precedes a coordinating conjunction joining two independent clauses.

(viii) Harvey is a good driver; moreover, he is a very friendly one.

"Moreover" is a conjunctive adverb, not a conjunction. It needs a semicolon before it and a comma after it.

(b) Prepositions

(i) His research is characterized by a deep understanding of genetic mutations.

(iv) The project is commensurate with the skills of the research team.

(v) The methodology is impervious to external influences.

(vi) The discussion oscillated between two main points.

(vii) His proposal hinges on securing adequate funding.

How to choose. This set is testing fixed collocations rather than logic. "Characterized by", "commensurate with", "impervious to" and "hinge on" are settled pairings that have to be learned as units. Only "oscillate between" can be reasoned out, from the fact that oscillation needs two points to move between.