Question

identifying compound-complex sentences
which sentences are compound-complex sentences? check all that apply.

• your brain produces more dopamine when it is engaged in solving a puzzle.
• our brains produce a chemical known as dopamine that is involved in learning and in creating memories.
• we can put together a puzzle that has challenging shapes, or we can try to solve the sudoku in the newspaper.
• working on puzzles increases our concentration and can expand our creativity; puzzle - making even has health benefits.
• students can improve their performance when they are faced with a challenging task, but they will have to start doing jigsaw puzzles.

Explanation:

To determine which sentences are compound - complex, we first recall the definition: a compound - complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Analyze each option:

• Option 1: "Your brain produces more dopamine when it is engaged in solving a puzzle."
• This sentence has one independent clause ("Your brain produces more dopamine") and one dependent clause ("when it is engaged in solving a puzzle"). So, it is a complex sentence, not compound - complex.
• Option 2: "Our brains produce a chemical known as dopamine that is involved in learning and in creating memories."
• It has one independent clause ("Our brains produce a chemical known as dopamine") and one dependent clause ("that is involved in learning and in creating memories"). So, it is a complex sentence, not compound - complex.
• Option 3: "We can put together a puzzle that has challenging shapes, or we can try to solve the sudoku in the newspaper."
• This sentence has two independent clauses ("We can put together a puzzle", "we can try to solve the sudoku in the newspaper") connected by the coordinating conjunction "or", and one dependent clause ("that has challenging shapes"). So, it is a compound - complex sentence.
• Option 4: "Working on puzzles increases our concentration and can expand our creativity; puzzle - making even has health benefits."
• This is a compound sentence (two independent clauses connected by a semicolon), with no dependent clauses. So, it is not a compound - complex sentence.
• Option 5: "Students can improve their performance when they are faced with a challenging task, but they will have to start doing jigsaw puzzles."
• This sentence has two independent clauses ("Students can improve their performance", "but they will have to start doing jigsaw puzzles") and one dependent clause ("when they are faced with a challenging task"). So, it is a compound - complex sentence.

To identify compound - complex sentences, we check for at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

• Option 1: 1 independent, 1 dependent (complex).
• Option 2: 1 independent, 1 dependent (complex).
• Option 3: 2 independent (connected by "or"), 1 dependent (compound - complex).
• Option 4: 2 independent (connected by semicolon, compound).
• Option 5: 2 independent (connected by "but"), 1 dependent (compound - complex).

Answer:

C. We can put together a puzzle that has challenging shapes, or we can try to solve the sudoku in the newspaper.
E. Students can improve their performance when they are faced with a challenging task, but they will have to start doing jigsaw puzzles.