Question

1. though research has found that even the most ancient cultures) made music. the reasons behind this universality have often remained unexplained. 2 however, until recently they have been unable to verify this theory. 3 scientists have long assumed that there must be a neural basis for our love of music, and they have searched for evidence using conventional brain - scanning technology. 4 now, though, researchers at the massachusetts institute of technology (mit) have devised a weird trick for brain imaging that seems to support this long - held hypothesis. (13)

these mit researchers performed mathematical analyses of scans of the auditory cortex and found that specific groups of neurons in this region, which is located in the temporal lobes, fires in response to music. however, they found a part of the brain that is dedicated to distinguishing music from other types of sound. during testing, neurons in the area fired in response to everything from bach to

1. which choice makes the sentence most grammatically acceptable?

a no change
b made music, and the reasons
c made music; however, the reasons
d made music, the reasons

Explanation:

To determine the grammatically correct option, we analyze the sentence structure. The original sentence has two independent clauses: "Anthropological research has found that even the most ancient cultures made music" and "The reasons behind this were long unexplained". We need a proper conjunction or punctuation to connect them. Option C uses a semicolon to separate the two clauses and "however" to show contrast, which is grammatically correct. Option A has no conjunction, making it a run - on. Option B uses "and" which doesn't show the contrast intended. Option D uses a comma to connect two independent clauses, creating a comma splice.

Answer:

C. made music; however, the reasons