Question

(2) finding a pet and owner travel to the ends of the earth to be reunited with them is quite a tale, but how do you think a dog would be reunited with his or her owner? (3) according to mark vinsella, the answer is simply 300 miles! (4) mark’s labrador retriever, named bucky, traveled on his own from winchester, virginia to myrtle beach, south carolina, in pursuit of mark.

(4) their bond is so compacted that it passed the test of time and travel. (5) it all started in january when mark decided to move from virginia to south carolina. (6) unfortunately, his new place of residence did not permit pets. (7) mark made the difficult decision to temporarily leave bucky with his father.

(8) then, something happened. (9) bucky vanished. (10) this happened after mark left for south carolina. (11) he was there one day and gone the next.

(12) months went by without any sign of bucky, which caused mark to lose hope. (13) the prospect of encountering his best friend again seemed highly unlikely. (14) but then one day a man named brett gallagher found an energetic labrador retriever scurrying around his neighborhood in myrtle beach. (15) because the dog was found at 2:00 a.m., brett decided to name him \deuce\, which is a term meaning the number two.

1. what is the most effective way to combine sentences 9 and 10?

after mark left for south carolina bucky vanished.

bucky vanished, and after mark left for south carolina.

after mark left for south carolina, bucky vanished.

leaving for south carolina, bucky vanished after mark.

Explanation:

To combine sentences 9 ("Bucky vanished") and 10 ("This happened after Mark left for South Carolina"), we need a clear and grammatically correct structure. Let's analyze each option:

• Option 1: "After Mark left for South Carolina Bucky vanished." – Missing a comma after "Carolina" for proper separation, making it a run - on in terms of clarity.
• Option 2: "Bucky vanished, and after Mark left for South Carolina." – This is an incomplete sentence as it ends with a dependent clause after the "and".
• Option 3: "After Mark left for South Carolina, Bucky vanished." – This option correctly uses a comma to separate the adverbial clause ("After Mark left for South Carolina") from the main clause ("Bucky vanished"), and it conveys the correct sequence of events clearly.
• Option 4: "Leaving for South Carolina, Bucky vanished after Mark." – The phrase "Leaving for South Carolina" is misplaced as it seems to imply Bucky was leaving, which is not the case. The sequence of events is also misrepresented.

Answer:

C. After Mark left for South Carolina, Bucky vanished.