In February 1919, following the end of the First World War, women from ten countries around the world convened the...

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

First sentence:

• In February 1919,
  following the end of the First World War,
• women from ten countries around the world
  convened the Inter-Allied Women's Conference in Paris.

Second sentence (with blank):

• The conference's goals
  were threefold[?] to ensure women's participation
  in the proceedings of the Paris Peace Conference,
  to secure the right of women to serve
  in the League of Nations,
  and to advocate for human rights.

Where [?] = either : or . or nothing or ;

Understanding the Meaning

The first sentence gives us the historical context:

• In February 1919, right after World War I ended,
• women from ten countries came together in Paris
• and held a conference called the Inter-Allied Women's Conference.

Now the second sentence tells us about this conference:

• "The conference's goals were threefold..."

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

• They're asking what punctuation (if any) should come after "threefold."

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

The sentence continues with:

• "to ensure women's participation in the proceedings of the Paris Peace Conference,
  to secure the right of women to serve in the League of Nations,
  and to advocate for human rights."

Now let's understand what this complete structure is telling us:

• "The conference's goals were threefold"
  • This part tells us there are three goals
  • It's a complete statement with subject ("goals") and verb ("were")
  • It makes a complete thought on its own

• "to ensure...to secure...and to advocate..."
  • This part lists three specific items:
    1. to ensure women's participation...
    2. to secure the right of women to serve...
    3. and to advocate for human rights
  • These are the three goals that "threefold" referred to
  • This is NOT a complete sentence - it's a list of phrases with no subject or main verb

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The first part makes a complete statement: there are three goals
• The second part explains specifically what those three goals are
• The second part is giving us the details that answer "what are those three goals?"

When you have a complete statement followed by a list or explanation that specifies what you just said, you need a colon (:). The colon signals "here are the specific details" or "here's what I mean."

So we need: threefold: to

The colon introduces the list that tells us what the three goals actually are.

The correct answer is A.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Colons to Introduce Lists or Explanations

When you have a complete independent statement followed by a list or explanation that specifies or elaborates on that statement, use a colon. The colon acts as a signal meaning "here are the specifics" or "let me explain what I mean."

The pattern:

• Complete statement (can stand alone as a sentence)
• Colon (:)
• List or explanation (gives the details)

Example 1:

• Without the list: The company has three priorities this year.
• With colon + list: The company has three priorities this year: increasing sales, reducing costs, and improving customer satisfaction.
• "The company has three priorities this year" = complete statement
• Colon signals the list is coming
• "increasing sales, reducing costs, and improving customer satisfaction" = the specific three priorities

Example 2:

• Complete statement: Scientists made an important discovery.
• With colon + explanation: Scientists made an important discovery: water exists beneath the planet's surface.
• The colon introduces the explanation of what the discovery was

In our question:

• Complete statement: "The conference's goals were threefold"
• Colon: signals the specifics are coming
• List: "to ensure women's participation...to secure the right of women to serve...and to advocate for human rights" (the three specific goals)

Important note: The material before the colon must be a complete statement that could stand alone as a sentence. The material after the colon explains or lists the specifics of what was just stated.