The symphony orchestra prepared an ambitious season featuring rarely performed contemporary compositions, hoping to attract younger audiences to class...

Sentence Structure

• The symphony orchestra prepared an ambitious season
  featuring rarely performed contemporary compositions,
  hopping to attract younger audiences to classical music.

• The artistic director had intended to include several world premieres
  in the spring program [?]
  ultimately selected more familiar works
  to ensure ticket sales.

Where [?] represents what varies in the choices:

• A: program but (no comma)
• B: program, but (comma before but)
• C: program, (just comma)
• D: program (nothing)

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start with the first sentence to understand the context:

'The symphony orchestra prepared an ambitious season featuring rarely performed contemporary compositions, hoping to attract younger audiences to classical music.'

• This tells us the orchestra is trying something adventurous –
  • playing rarely performed modern pieces
  • with the goal of attracting younger people to classical music.

Now the second sentence:

'The artistic director had intended to include several world premieres in the spring program...'

• The director had a plan –
  • to include several world premieres (brand new pieces never performed before)
  • in the spring program

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

• We're deciding whether we need "but" and whether we need a comma
• Let's read what comes after to understand the complete relationship

The sentence continues: 'ultimately selected more familiar works to ensure ticket sales.'

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• 'Had intended to include several world premieres'
  • This is what the director planned to do

• 'Ultimately selected more familiar works'
  • This is what the director actually did instead
  • 'Ultimately' signals the final decision
  • 'Familiar works' contrasts with 'world premieres'

So the complete picture is:

• The director intended one thing but did something else –
  a clear contrast between the plan and the reality

What do we notice about the structure here?

• We have one subject doing two different actions:
  • Subject: "The artistic director"
  • Action 1: "had intended to include several world premieres"
  • Action 2: "ultimately selected more familiar works"

• These two actions are contrasting – the director changed course
  • So we need "but" to show this contrast

• But here's the key: both actions belong to the same subject
  • The artistic director is the one who intended AND the one who selected
  • We don't have two separate complete thoughts
  • We have one person doing two things

When one subject performs two actions connected by a word like "but," we don't use a comma – we just use the connecting word.

So we need: program but

The correct answer is A.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Connecting Actions by the Same Subject: Compound Predicates

When one subject performs two actions connected by words like "and," "or," or "but," you have what's called a compound predicate in grammar terms. The rule is simple: use the connecting word without a comma.

Pattern:

• Subject + Verb 1 + but + Verb 2
• Example: "The chef prepared the ingredients but forgot to preheat the oven"
• "The chef" does both actions (prepared AND forgot)
• Connected with "but" but NO comma

Compare this to two complete separate thoughts (compound sentence):

• Subject 1 + Verb 1, but + Subject 2 + Verb 2
• Example: "The chef prepared the ingredients, but the assistant forgot to preheat the oven"
• Two different subjects (chef and assistant)
• Connected with comma + "but"

How this applies to our question:

• "The artistic director had intended to include several world premieres in the spring program but ultimately selected more familiar works"
• One subject: "The artistic director"
• Two actions: "had intended" and "selected"
• These contrast with each other, so we need "but"
• Because it's one subject doing both actions, we use "but" without a comma

The key is identifying whether you have one subject doing multiple things (no comma) or multiple complete thoughts (comma needed).