The international climate summit, which was attended by representatives from 140 nations, addressed concerns about rising sea levels _____ it...

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 international climate summit,
• which was attended by representatives from 140 nations,
• addressed concerns about rising sea levels [?] it established a comprehensive framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
• Where [?] = what varies in the choices:
  • A) , and
  • B) ;
  • C) (nothing)
  • D) ,

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The international climate summit, which was attended by representatives from 140 nations'

• This tells us about a major international meeting on climate issues
• 140 nations sent representatives - so this was a significant global event

'addressed concerns about rising sea levels'

• This is what the summit did
• They discussed/dealt with worries about sea levels rising

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

• They're asking us how to connect what comes before to what comes after
• We have: comma + and / semicolon / nothing / comma alone

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

'it established a comprehensive framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2040'

• 'it' refers back to the climate summit
• The summit also did something else: it set up a detailed plan
• This plan is for cutting down greenhouse gases by the year 2040

So the complete picture is:

• The summit did TWO things:
  1. It addressed concerns about rising sea levels
  2. It established a framework for reducing emissions

Now, what do we notice about the structure here?

Let me look at what comes BEFORE the blank:

• 'The international climate summit... addressed concerns about rising sea levels'
• This has: a subject (the summit) + a verb (addressed) + what it addressed
• This is a complete thought - it could stand alone as its own sentence

And what comes AFTER the blank:

• 'it established a comprehensive framework...'
• This also has: a subject (it) + a verb (established) + what it established
• This is also a complete thought - it could stand alone too

So we have two complete thoughts that need to be connected properly.

When you have two complete thoughts, you can't just stick them together with nothing, and you can't use just a comma by itself. You need:

• Either a comma + a connecting word like "and"
• Or a semicolon
• Or make them separate sentences with a period

Since these are two related actions the summit performed - and they're coordinated (both things the summit accomplished) - we need: comma + and

The correct answer is A) levels, and

Grammar Concept Applied

Connecting Two Complete Thoughts

When you have two complete thoughts (each with its own subject and verb that could stand alone as sentences - called independent clauses in grammar terms), you need to connect them properly. You have several options:

Option 1: Comma + Coordinating Conjunction

• Use a comma followed by a connecting word (and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so)
• Example: The summit addressed concerns, and it established a framework
• This works when you want to show the relationship between the two thoughts

Option 2: Semicolon

• Use a semicolon to connect closely related thoughts
• Example: The summit addressed concerns; it established a framework
• This works but doesn't make the relationship as explicit

What DOESN'T work:

• Just a comma alone - creates a "comma splice" error
• Nothing at all - creates a "run-on sentence" error

In our question:

• First complete thought: "The international climate summit addressed concerns about rising sea levels"
• Second complete thought: "it established a comprehensive framework..."
• Since these are two coordinated actions by the same summit, comma + and is the best choice
• It properly connects them AND shows they're related accomplishments