Question

1. we didnt attend the play; besides, we had heard that all the good seats were taken.
2. we stayed in baltimore, maryland; omaha, nebraska; and philadelphia, pennsylvania.
3. the keys to the lower door were not, however, in their usual place.

the three performers included jasper, a trained squirrel; belzar, a tightrope walker; petunia, a magician.
rid, a shortstop, made the team, but joe, her cousin, did not make the cut.
he article out loud, then answer all ten questions on the quiz.

Explanation:

These are exercises focused on correctly using semicolons and commas for complex sentence structure, including joining independent clauses with conjunctive adverbs, listing items with internal commas, and setting off parenthetical descriptive phrases.

1. Sentence 3 is already correctly punctuated: the semicolon joins two related independent clauses, with "besides" as a conjunctive adverb.
2. Sentence 4 is already correctly punctuated: semicolons separate listed cities that include their states (internal commas), which is the standard rule for complex lists.
3. Sentence 5 is already correctly punctuated: the comma sets off the conjunctive adverb "however" in the middle of the clause, and the structure is grammatically sound.
4. Sentence (the one with performers) is already correctly punctuated: semicolons separate descriptive items about the performers, each of which has an internal comma for the appositive phrase.
5. Sentence (the one with the shortstop) is already correctly punctuated: the comma joins two contrasting independent clauses with the coordinating conjunction "but", and the appositive phrases are properly set off with commas.

Answer:

All the visible sentences are already correctly punctuated.

1. Sentence 3: Correct as written: We didn't attend the play; besides, we had heard that all the good seats were taken.
2. Sentence 4: Correct as written: We stayed in Baltimore, Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
3. Sentence 5: Correct as written: The keys to the lower door were not, however, in their usual place.
4. Performer sentence: Correct as written: The three performers included Jasper, a trained squirrel; Belzar, a tightrope walker; Petunia, a magician.
5. Shortstop sentence: Correct as written: [Name], a shortstop, made the team, but Joe, her cousin, did not make the cut.