In 2010, archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan was visiting the twelfth-century temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia when he noticed markings...

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 2010,
  • archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan
    • was visiting the twelfth-century temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia
      • when he noticed markings of red paint
        • on the temple walls[?]
          • with the help of digital imaging techniques,
          • he discovered the markings to be part of an elaborate mural
            • containing over 200 paintings.

• Where [?] = , with / with / so with / . With

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning:

In 2010, archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan was visiting this famous temple in Cambodia.

While he was there:

• he noticed markings of red paint on the temple walls

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

• A offers: walls, with
• B offers: walls with
• C offers: walls so with
• D offers: walls. With

To see what works here, let's read what comes after and understand what it's saying!

"with the help of digital imaging techniques, he discovered the markings to be part of an elaborate mural containing over 200 paintings."

Now let's understand what this part is telling us:

• "With the help of digital imaging techniques"
  • This describes HOW he made his discovery
  • It's a method or tool he used

• "he discovered the markings to be part of an elaborate mural containing over 200 paintings"
  • Subject: he (referring to Noel Hidalgo Tan)
  • Action: discovered
  • What he discovered: the markings were actually part of a large mural with over 200 paintings

So the second part gives us: With digital imaging help, he discovered these markings were part of a big mural.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The part BEFORE the blank:
  • "archaeologist Noel Hidalgo Tan was visiting... when he noticed markings of red paint on the temple walls"
  • This is a COMPLETE THOUGHT on its own
  • It has a subject (Noel Hidalgo Tan), a verb (was visiting, noticed), and expresses a complete idea

• The part AFTER the blank:
  • "With the help of digital imaging techniques, he discovered the markings to be part of an elaborate mural..."
  • This is ALSO a complete thought on its own
  • It has a subject (he), a verb (discovered), and expresses a complete idea

So we have TWO complete sentences here. When you have two complete thoughts that can stand alone, they need to be properly separated.

The correct answer is Choice D (walls. With) - this uses a period to properly separate the two complete sentences.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Separating Complete Sentences

When you have two complete thoughts (called independent clauses in grammar terms) - meaning each part has its own subject and verb and could stand alone as a sentence - you must separate them properly.

Three ways to handle two complete sentences:

1. Separate with a period:
   • First sentence: The archaeologist noticed the markings.
   • Second sentence: He used digital imaging to study them.
   • Combined: The archaeologist noticed the markings. He used digital imaging to study them.
2. Join with a semicolon (when ideas are closely related):
   • The archaeologist noticed the markings; he used digital imaging to study them.
3. Join with comma + coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor):
   • The archaeologist noticed the markings, and he used digital imaging to study them.

What you CANNOT do:

• Join with just a comma: "He noticed the markings, he used digital imaging" (comma splice)
• Run together with no punctuation: "He noticed the markings he used digital imaging" (run-on)

In this question:

• Part 1: "...he noticed markings of red paint on the temple walls" = complete sentence
• Part 2: "With the help of digital imaging techniques, he discovered the markings to be part of an elaborate mural..." = complete sentence
• Solution: Separate with a period → "walls. With"