On November 2, 1772, amid rising tensions with Great Britain, Boston colonists formed the Boston Committee of Correspondence. By 1774,...

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

• Sentence 1:
  • On November 2, 1772,
    • amid rising tensions with Great Britain,
  • Boston colonists formed the Boston Committee of Correspondence.

• Sentence 2:
  • By 1774,
  • what had started as a local means of mobilizing support for the Patriot cause
    • had grown into something far more extensive [?] network of such committees
      • that,
        • facilitating communication among the colonies,
      • helped lay the groundwork for the Continental Congress.

Where [?] = A. : a | B. ; a | C. , it was a | D. . A

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• 'On November 2, 1772, amid rising tensions with Great Britain, Boston colonists formed the Boston Committee of Correspondence.'

This tells us when and why this committee was created - during tensions with Britain.

Now the second sentence:

• 'By 1774, what had started as a local means of mobilizing support for the Patriot cause had grown into something far more extensive...'

So in just two years, this local effort had expanded into something much bigger.

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

• They all have different punctuation after "extensive"
• A uses a colon (:)
• B uses a semicolon (;)
• C uses a comma and adds "it was"
• D uses a period

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

The sentence continues: 'network of such committees that, facilitating communication among the colonies, helped lay the groundwork for the Continental Congress.'

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• 'something far more extensive'
  • This phrase is building up to something - it's incomplete by itself
  • We're waiting to find out: what WAS this extensive something?

• 'network of such committees'
  • This is the answer! This is what the "something" was
  • It's revealing the specific identity of that vague "something"

• 'that... helped lay the groundwork for the Continental Congress'
  • This tells us what this network accomplished
  • It was crucial in setting up the Continental Congress

So the complete picture is:

• What started as one local committee had grown into something far more extensive - and now we're told what that something was: a network of committees across the colonies

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The phrase "something far more extensive" creates anticipation
  • It's a vague reference that needs specification
  • The reader is left wondering: what exactly was this extensive thing?

• Then "a network of such committees" provides the specific answer
  • It identifies and explains what that "something" is

• This is exactly what a colon does:
  • It introduces an explanation or specification of what came before
  • The part before the colon sets up the question
  • The part after the colon delivers the specific answer

So we need Choice A: extensive: a

This creates: "something far more extensive: a network of such committees" - the colon introduces the specific identification of what the "something" is.

Grammar Concept Applied

Using Colons to Introduce Specifications

When you have a complete statement that refers to something general or creates anticipation, you can use a colon to introduce the specific explanation or identification (this is one function of colons in grammar):

Pattern: General/Vague Reference : Specific Explanation

Example 1:

• Without specification: "She needed one thing from her team"
• With colon adding specification: "She needed one thing from her team: complete honesty"
• "one thing" = what? → The colon introduces the answer: "complete honesty"

Example 2:

• Without specification: "The research revealed something unexpected"
• With colon adding specification: "The research revealed something unexpected: a link between sleep and creativity"
• "something unexpected" = what? → The colon introduces the answer: "a link between sleep and creativity"

In this question:

• "what had started... had grown into something far more extensive: a network of such committees"
• "something far more extensive" = what? → The colon introduces the answer: "a network of such committees"

The key is that the part before the colon must be a complete thought that could stand alone (even if it creates anticipation), and what follows the colon specifies, explains, or elaborates on that thought.