In 1976, the Inuit rock group Sikumiut recorded the album People of the Ice. Though only their first record, it...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

In 1976,

• the Inuit rock group Sikumiut
  • recorded the album People of the Ice.

Though only their first record,

• it
  • shows a band
    • already skilled at the difficult task
      • of making music
        • that sounds easy and fun.

On songs like 'Utirumavunga,'

• Lucassie Koperqualuk's guitar riffs
  • effortlessly blend [?] with
    • Charlie Adams's delightfully catchy vocal melodies.

Understanding the Meaning

The passage is setting the scene: In 1976, an Inuit rock group called Sikumiut recorded their album People of the Ice.

The second sentence tells us something impressive about this band:

• Even though this was just their first record,
• It shows they were already skilled at something difficult—
  • making music that sounds easy and fun.

Now we get to the third sentence, which gives us a specific example:

• On songs like 'Utirumavunga,'
• Lucassie Koperqualuk's guitar riffs effortlessly...

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• A: "blend, with" (comma after blend)
• B: "blend. With" (period after blend)
• C: "blend; with" (semicolon after blend)
• D: "blend with" (no punctuation)

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The sentence continues: "Charlie Adams's delightfully catchy vocal melodies."

So the complete thought is:

• The guitar riffs effortlessly blend with the vocal melodies.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• "Blend with" works as a verb phrase—
  • "blend" is the verb telling us what the guitar riffs do
  • "with Charlie Adams's vocal melodies" tells us what they blend WITH

• The word "with" and what follows it are essential to complete the verb's meaning:
  • Without "with Charlie Adams's vocal melodies," the sentence would be incomplete
  • We need to know what the riffs are blending with!

• This is all one continuous thought—
  • There's no natural pause or separation between "blend" and "with"
  • The prepositional phrase starting with "with" is necessary, not optional

So we need Choice D: "blend with" – no punctuation should interrupt this verb phrase because the prepositional phrase is essential to completing the sentence's meaning.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Keeping Verbs Connected to Their Essential Prepositional Phrases

Some verbs need a prepositional phrase to complete their meaning. When the prepositional phrase is essential (not optional extra information), no punctuation should separate the verb from its preposition.

Pattern:

• Subject + Verb + Preposition + Object of Preposition
• Example: "The colors blend with each other"
• "blend" = verb
• "with each other" = essential prepositional phrase (tells us what blends with what)
• No punctuation between them

Common verb phrases like this:

• "depend on" → "Success depends on hard work" (not: "depends, on")
• "agree with" → "I agree with your analysis" (not: "agree, with")
• "blend with" → "The guitar riffs blend with the vocal melodies" (not: "blend, with")

How this applies to our question:

• "Lucassie Koperqualuk's guitar riffs effortlessly blend with Charlie Adams's delightfully catchy vocal melodies"
• "blend with Charlie Adams's vocal melodies" is a complete verb phrase
• The prepositional phrase "with Charlie Adams's..." is essential, not optional
• Therefore, no punctuation should interrupt this connection

The key test: Could you remove the prepositional phrase and still have a complete, clear sentence? If no, then it's essential and should not be separated by punctuation.

• "The guitar riffs effortlessly blend" ← incomplete thought (blend with what?)
• Therefore, the phrase is essential and requires no punctuation