The Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Norway and the Jardim Botânico of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil are two of many...

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

• The Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Norway
• and
• the Jardim Botânico of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil
  • are two of many botanical gardens around the world
    • dedicated to growing diverse plant species [?] both native and nonnative [?]
      • fostering scientific research;
      • and
      • educating the public about plant conservation.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

• The sentence tells us about two specific botanical gardens:
  • The Arctic-Alpine Botanic Garden in Norway
  • The Jardim Botânico of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil

• These two gardens 'are two of many botanical gardens around the world'
  • So they're examples of a larger group

• These gardens are 'dedicated to' – meaning their purpose is to do certain things

The sentence then lists what they're dedicated to:

• First: 'growing diverse plant species...'

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

• A: species, both native and nonnative,
• B: species, both native and nonnative;
• C: species; both native and nonnative,
• D: species both native and nonnative,

We're deciding what punctuation to use before and after 'both native and nonnative.'

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

After 'both native and nonnative,' the sentence continues:

• 'fostering scientific research;'
• 'and educating the public about plant conservation.'

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

• The gardens are dedicated to THREE main activities:
  • Activity 1: growing diverse plant species (both native and nonnative)
  • Activity 2: fostering scientific research
  • Activity 3: educating the public about plant conservation

• Notice that there's a semicolon after 'research' – before 'and educating'
  • This tells us these are major items in a list
  • They're using semicolons to separate these activities

• 'Both native and nonnative' is extra descriptive information about 'plant species'
  • It's not a separate main activity
  • It's just giving us more detail about what kinds of species

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have a list of three major parallel activities
  • These major items are separated by semicolons

• Within the first activity, we have a descriptive phrase ('both native and nonnative') that adds detail about 'species'
  • This descriptive phrase should be set off with commas

• So the pattern should be:
  • Comma before the descriptive phrase ('species, both native...')
  • Semicolon after the descriptive phrase to match the pattern separating the major activities

The correct answer is Choice B: species, both native and nonnative;

This gives us:

• A comma to introduce the descriptive detail about the species
• A semicolon to end this first major item and match the semicolons used between the other major activities

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Using Semicolons to Separate Major Items in a Complex Series

When you have a list of major items and those items contain internal punctuation (like commas used for descriptive phrases), you should use semicolons to separate the major items. This keeps the structure clear and prevents confusion about what goes with what.

Pattern:

• Major item 1 (which may include internal commas for descriptive details);
• Major item 2;
• and Major item 3.

Example 1:

'The conference featured presentations on climate change, including rising sea levels; renewable energy solutions; and conservation strategies.'

• Major item 1: 'climate change, including rising sea levels' (has internal comma)
• Major item 2: 'renewable energy solutions'
• Major item 3: 'conservation strategies'
• Semicolons separate these major items

Example 2:

'We visited museums in Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and Athens, Greece.'

• Each city-country pair uses a comma internally
• Semicolons separate the three locations

In our question:

• Major item 1: 'growing diverse plant species, both native and nonnative' (has internal commas around the descriptive phrase)
• Major item 2: 'fostering scientific research'
• Major item 3: 'educating the public about plant conservation'

We need:

• Commas to set off 'both native and nonnative' (the descriptive phrase)
• A semicolon after 'nonnative' to separate this first major activity from the next one