Since the 1970s, urban planners have advocated for one design philosophy above all _____ strategy encourages integrating homes, businesses, and...

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

• Since the 1970s,
• urban planners
  • have advocated
    • for one design philosophy
      • above all (?)
        • mixed-use development
          • (?)
          • strategy encourages integrating homes, businesses, and public spaces
            • to create walkable neighborhoods

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

• "Since the 1970s, urban planners have advocated for one design philosophy above all others"
  • Urban planners have favored ONE particular design philosophy
  • They like this one more than all the other approaches

This is where we have the blank - we need to connect to what comes next.

Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A: "others: mixed-use development. This"
• Choice B: "others, mixed-use development, a"
• Choice C: "others. Mixed-use development, a"
• Choice D: "others; mixed-use development, a"

The choices are giving us different punctuation options and different ways to structure what follows.

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

The sentence continues with:

• "mixed-use development"
  • This is the NAME of that one philosophy they've advocated for
• "strategy encourages integrating homes, businesses, and public spaces to create walkable neighborhoods"
  • This describes what the strategy does - it encourages mixing different types of spaces together

So the complete picture is:

• Urban planners have favored one philosophy above others
• That philosophy is called "mixed-use development"
• This strategy encourages integrating homes, businesses, and public spaces

What do we notice about the structure here?

The phrase "mixed-use development" is identifying what the philosophy is - it's naming the thing we just mentioned. This is information that should flow smoothly as part of the same sentence.

When you mention something and then immediately name or identify it, you set off that identifying phrase with commas to keep the sentence flowing naturally.

So we need: "...one design philosophy above all others, mixed-use development, a strategy..."

This creates one smooth sentence where:

• We mention the philosophy
• We name it (set off by commas)
• We continue describing what it does
• All connected as one flowing thought

The correct answer is Choice B - it uses commas to properly integrate all these connected ideas into one coherent sentence.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Commas to Set Off Identifying/Naming Phrases

When you mention something and then immediately name or identify it, you use commas to set off that identifying information (called an appositive in grammar terms). This keeps all the related ideas flowing smoothly in one sentence:

Pattern:

• Main statement + comma + identifying phrase + comma + continuation

Example 1:

• "The company announced a new initiative, Project Green, a plan that would reduce emissions."
• Main idea: the company announced an initiative
• Identifying phrase: "Project Green" (names what the initiative is)
• Continuation: "a plan that would reduce emissions" (describes it further)
• Commas keep it all flowing together

Example 2:

• "She adopted a new approach, collaborative learning, a method that improved student engagement."
• Main idea: she adopted an approach
• Identifying phrase: "collaborative learning" (names it)
• Continuation: "a method that..." (describes what it does)

In our question:

• "...advocated for one design philosophy above all others, mixed-use development, a strategy..."
• Main idea: advocated for one philosophy
• Identifying phrase: "mixed-use development" (names what it is)
• Continuation: "a strategy encourages..." (describes what it does)
• Commas properly integrate all these connected ideas into one flowing sentence