The Berlin Philharmonic's 1962 recording has been studied by musicologists for decades. It remains one of the finest examples _____...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of these sentences. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentences as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• The Berlin Philharmonic's 1962 recording
  • has been studied by musicologists for decades.

• It
  • remains one of the finest examples of(?) Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
    • ever captured on tape.

Where (?) represents: nothing, comma, colon, or dash

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence:

• "The Berlin Philharmonic's 1962 recording has been studied by musicologists for decades."
  • This tells us about a specific recording from 1962 that has received a lot of scholarly attention over many years.

Now the second sentence:

• "It remains one of the finest examples..."
  • "It" refers back to that 1962 recording
  • The recording is being called one of the best examples of something

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

• We have the word "of" followed by different punctuation options
  • Choice A: of,
  • Choice B: of (no punctuation)
  • Choice C: of:
  • Choice D: of—

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

• "of(?) Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ever captured on tape"

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

• "one of the finest examples of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"
  • In context, we're talking about recordings
  • So an "example of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" means a recording or performance of that symphony
  • The word "of" is introducing what the examples are examples OF

• The full phrase reads: "examples of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"
  • This is a single, continuous thought
  • "of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" tells us what kind of examples we're talking about

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The phrase "of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" directly completes the word "examples"
  • It's like saying "a cup of coffee" - you wouldn't write "a cup of, coffee"
  • The preposition "of" and what follows it form one unit

• This is essential information that flows directly
  • Not extra information that needs to be set off
  • Not a dramatic pause or explanation
  • Just a natural continuation of the phrase

So we need: Choice B (of with no punctuation)

The phrase should read smoothly as "examples of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" with no interruption.

Grammar Concept Applied

Keeping Prepositional Phrases Together

When a preposition (like "of," "in," "at," "with") introduces its object, these words form a unit that should stay together without punctuation between them. This is called a prepositional phrase in grammar terms.

The Pattern:

• Noun + preposition + object: "examples of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"
  • "of" = preposition
  • "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" = object
  • These stay together: "of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"

• More examples:
  • "a student at Harvard" (not "a student at, Harvard")
  • "the cost of living" (not "the cost of, living")
  • "interest in science" (not "interest in, science")

Why this matters:

• The preposition and its object work together to express a relationship
• Separating them with punctuation disrupts the meaning
• The phrase needs to flow as one complete unit

In our question:

• "examples of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" is a noun phrase where "of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony" modifies "examples"
• The preposition "of" connects directly to "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony"
• No punctuation should interrupt this connection