Once the board had evaluated all strategic options and consulted with external _____ the decision was made to pursue international...

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

• Once the board had evaluated all strategic options
• and
• consulted with external advisors [?]
• the decision was made to pursue international expansion
• rather than
• domestic consolidation.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'Once the board had evaluated all strategic options and consulted with external advisors'

This part tells us about two things the board did:

• evaluated all strategic options
• consulted with external advisors

The word 'Once' at the beginning signals this is setting up a time frame or condition – something that happened first before something else.

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

• advisors (no punctuation)
• advisors,
• advisors;
• advisors:

We're deciding what punctuation (if any) should follow 'advisors.' To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

'the decision was made to pursue international expansion rather than domestic consolidation.'

This part tells us the main point:

• a decision was made
• specifically, to pursue international expansion (not domestic consolidation)

Now let's understand the complete picture:

• The first part ('Once the board had evaluated...') sets up WHEN or UNDER WHAT CONDITIONS something happened
• The second part ('the decision was made...') tells us WHAT happened

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The first part is an introductory setup that depends on what comes next
  • It starts with 'Once' which makes it incomplete on its own
  • It can't stand alone as a complete sentence
  • It's setting the stage for the main statement
• The second part is the main statement
  • This is the core message of the sentence
  • It could stand alone: 'The decision was made to pursue international expansion'

When we have an introductory setup clause like this that comes before the main statement, we need a comma to separate the two parts.

The comma helps readers see: 'Here's the background/condition, and NOW here's the main point.'

So we need advisors, (Choice A).

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Commas After Introductory Clauses

When a sentence begins with an introductory clause (called a dependent clause in grammar terms) that sets up the main statement, use a comma to separate the introduction from the main part:

Pattern: [Introductory clause starting with words like "Once," "When," "If," "Although," "Because"], [main statement].

Examples:

• Introductory clause: When the team completed the project
  Main statement: the client expressed satisfaction
  Complete sentence: When the team completed the project, the client expressed satisfaction.
• Introductory clause: Although the costs were higher than expected
  Main statement: the investment proved worthwhile
  Complete sentence: Although the costs were higher than expected, the investment proved worthwhile.

In our question:

• Introductory clause: Once the board had evaluated all strategic options and consulted with external advisors
• Main statement: the decision was made to pursue international expansion rather than domestic consolidation
• Comma needed after "advisors" to separate these two parts

The comma signals to readers: "The setup is complete; now here comes the main point."