Errors in the use of punctuation marks - Semicolons and Colons
A.Three states have counties named Fairfield: Connecticut, Ohio, and South Carolina.
B.Sound may be used to link two scenes: wake-up music from a clock radio at the end of one scene becomes a song sung onstage at the start of the next.
C.Robert Redford was not the film maker's first choice to play the Sundance Kid: he got the part after Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, and Warren Beaty had turned it down.
D.When mustaches are fashionable, orders increase for: mustache combs, brushes, and wax.
the answer is b.
As I see them, both B and C have misused the colon.
The error is in D.
B and C would be better with semicolons, but the colon works in both, too, because the second sentence explains the first.
I think there should be capital letters after the colons in B and C.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm
In option B, the correct use of punctuation is demonstrated with the colon. A colon can be used to introduce a list or to provide an explanation or example that further elaborates on the preceding information.
To identify this as the correct answer, we can examine the structure of the sentence. The first part "Sound may be used to link two scenes" is followed by a colon, which is then followed by "wake-up music from a clock radio at the end of one scene becomes a song sung onstage at the start of the next." This second part of the sentence provides an explanation or example of how sound can be used to link two scenes. Therefore, the colon is used correctly in this sentence.
To determine if the other options contain errors in the use of punctuation marks, let's analyze them:
Option A: "Three states have counties named Fairfield: Connecticut, Ohio, and South Carolina."
In this sentence, the colon is correctly used to introduce the list of states with counties named Fairfield.
Option C: "Robert Redford was not the film maker's first choice to play the Sundance Kid: he got the part after Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, and Warren Beatty had turned it down."
Here, the colon is used to provide an explanation or reason for the first part of the sentence. It correctly connects the idea that Robert Redford was not the first choice to play the Sundance Kid with the explanation that he got the part after other actors had turned it down.
Option D: "When mustaches are fashionable, orders increase for: mustache combs, brushes, and wax."
In this sentence, the colon is incorrectly used. It should be replaced with a comma, as the list of items that follows the colon is not a complete sentence.
Therefore, by analyzing the use of punctuation in each option, we can conclude that option B is the correct answer, as it demonstrates the correct use of a colon.