Sentence: Technology has changed how we communicate we can now talk to people instantly across the globe.
Which is the best way to revise this sentence?
- Technology has changed how we communicate, we can now talk to people instantly across the globe.
- Technology has changed how we communicate; we can now talk to people instantly across the globe. (correct answer)
- Technology has changed how we communicate, and how we can now talk to people instantly across the globe.
- Technology, having changed how we communicate, we can now talk to people instantly across the globe.
Explanation: This question tests your ability to recognize and fix run-on sentences, which occur when two independent clauses (complete thoughts) are incorrectly joined together. The original sentence contains two independent clauses: "Technology has changed how we communicate" and "we can now talk to people instantly across the globe." Each could stand alone as a complete sentence, but they're improperly connected without punctuation, creating a run-on sentence. Choice B correctly fixes this by using a semicolon to separate the two independent clauses. Semicolons are perfect for joining closely related complete thoughts that could stand as separate sentences but work better together. Choice A attempts to fix the run-on with just a comma, but this creates a comma splice—another error. You cannot join two independent clauses with only a comma. Choice C uses "and how," which creates an incomplete second clause and changes the meaning awkwardly. The phrase "and how we can now talk to people" doesn't make logical sense as written. Choice D uses a participial phrase ("having changed") but then follows it with another independent clause, creating an unclear, wordy construction that doesn't properly connect the ideas. When you encounter run-on sentences on the GED, look for two complete thoughts that need proper separation. Your main options are: semicolon (;), comma plus coordinating conjunction (, and/but/so), or splitting into two sentences with a period. Semicolons work best when the ideas are closely related, as they are here.