Question 3

He was an outstanding public speaker,

The best version of the underlined part of the sentence is "He was an outstanding public speaker," which correctly uses a comma to separate two independent clauses.

A) He was an outstanding public speaker

This option fails to include the necessary punctuation to connect the two independent clauses in the sentence. Without a comma or conjunction, the sentence becomes a run-on, lacking proper grammatical structure.

B) He was an outstanding public speaker,

This option is correct because it appropriately uses a comma to link the two independent clauses. The comma indicates a pause before the conjunction, which allows for a smoother transition to the next clause.

C) An outstanding public speaker,

This option is incorrect as it does not provide a complete thought. While it introduces the subject, it lacks the main verb and does not connect the clauses, making it an incomplete sentence.

D) An outstanding public speaker and

This option is also incorrect because it suggests the beginning of a sentence but does not complete the thought. It lacks a main clause and does not provide a full idea, leaving the reader hanging.

Conclusion

The choice "He was an outstanding public speaker," is the only option that correctly addresses the grammatical structure of the sentence by incorporating the necessary comma. The other options either lack completeness or proper punctuation, demonstrating why they do not serve as suitable alternatives.