Question

read the passage and choose the best answer to each question. there are six underlined words or phrases in the passage to show which words or phrases may be incorrect.
language conventions
it was a time of big changes in my life. i was a new student at duncan heights middle school. my family had moved over the summer, when we were all looking forward to getting a fresh start in a new community. i always get a little nervous on the first day of school, but this year i felt more excited than nervous. one reason my parents had decided to move was that they had heard that my school had really good teachers. i had a feeling 7th grade was going to be great.
science has always been my favorite subject. this year, i decided i wanted a challenge, so i signed up for the advanced science course. to accomplish my goal, of getting an a in the course i took notes carefully and studied hard. even with all my hard work toward the end of my first semester of 7th grade i had still only earned a b+ in the course. so, one day i asked my teacher, mr. davis, if i could do anything for extra credit.
mr. davis was really nice, and he had a way of making learning really fun. i bet he is one of the teachers my parents had heard about. he gave me an assignment to do for extra credit, but he warned me that it would have to be turned in by the due date. trying to improve my grade, the assignment was not accepted by mr. davis, because i was too late. although i was disappointed, mr. davis said he was sure i could improve next semester, as long as i kept putting in the effort. i made up my mind to keep working toward my goal.
there is one blank in the sentence below. for this blank, click the phrase that is punctuated correctly.
i took notes carefully and studied hard.
to accomplish my goal of getting an a in the course,
to accomplish, my goal of getting an a in the course,
to accomplish my goal of getting an a in the course
to accomplish my goal, of getting an a in the course

Explanation:

To solve the punctuation problem for the blank, we analyze each option:

Option 1: "To accomplish my goal of getting an A in the course,"

• Explanation: The phrase "of getting an A in the course" is a prepositional phrase that modifies "my goal." No unnecessary commas are used here, so the punctuation is correct. The structure "To accomplish my goal of [something]" is a standard way to introduce a purpose, with the prepositional phrase directly following "goal" without extra commas.

Option 2: "To accomplish, my goal of getting an A in the course,"

• Explanation: The comma after "accomplish" is incorrect. "To accomplish" is part of the infinitive phrase introducing the purpose, and it should not be separated from the object "my goal" with a comma. This creates an unnatural pause and incorrect punctuation.

Option 3: "To accomplish my goal of getting an A in the course"

• Explanation: This is a sentence fragment when used to introduce the next clause ("I took notes carefully..."). The original sentence structure requires a comma at the end to separate the introductory phrase from the main clause. Without the comma, it would run together incorrectly.

Option 4: "To accomplish my goal, of getting an A in the course"

• Explanation: The comma after "goal" is incorrect. The prepositional phrase "of getting an A in the course" is essential to defining "my goal," so it should not be set off with a comma. This comma incorrectly separates the noun "goal" from its modifier.

Answer:

To accomplish my goal of getting an A in the course,