To humans, it does not appear that the golden orb-weaver spider uses camouﬂage to capture its ______ the brightly colored
arachnid seems to wait conspicuously in the center of its large circular web for insects to approach. Researcher Po Peng of
the University of Melbourne has explained that the spider’s distinctive coloration may in fact be part of its appeal.
prey, rather,
prey rather,
prey, rather;
prey; rather,
Choice D is the best answer. The convention being tested is the coordination of main clauses within a sentence. The
semicolon is correctly used to join the ﬁrst main clause (“To humans…prey”) and the second main clause (“rather…
approach”). Further, the comma after the adverb “rather” is correctly used to separate the adverb from the main clause (“the
brightly…approach”) it modiﬁes, logically indicating that the information in this clause (how the spider’s behavior appears to
humans) is contrary to the information in the previous clause (how the spider’s behavior does not appear to humans).
Choice A is incorrect because it results in a comma splice. Without a conjunction following it, a comma can’t be used in this
way to join two main clauses. Choice B is incorrect because it results in a run-on sentence. The two main clauses are fused
without appropriate punctuation and/or a conjunction. Choice C is incorrect. Placing the comma between the ﬁrst main
clause “To humans…prey” and the adverb “rather” illogically indicates that the information in the ﬁrst main clause is contrary
to what came before, which doesn’t make sense in this context.