connecting punctuation

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connecting punctuation

by Anh Duong » Fri Jun 26, 2015 5:25 pm
Studies have found that deaf children from American families who identify themselves as culturally deaf, and use sign language, are generally on a par with hearing children in terms of reading and writing, because they have been exposed to language since birth.

and use sign language, are generally
using sign language, are generally
use sign language, and are generally
and using sign language are generally
and use sign language, generally

Can somebody explain why there is a comma after "deaf"?

Thanks

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by MartyMurray » Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:01 pm
Actually I find the comma unnecessary. *Actually, after I wrote this, Jim from Stratus prep corrected me below. So check out the rest of my explanation and then see what he had to say.*

So the answer to your question is that probably there is no good reason for the comma to be there.

Having said that, in writing one often has some leeway in the use of commas, and sometimes one may place a comma somewhere for emphasis.

For instance, one could say, "I ran into Sue and John at the beach." Ok, fine, that makes sense.

At the same time, if one wanted to emphasize that there was something special about running into not just Sue but also John, one might put commas around and John. "I ran into Sue, and John, at the beach."

Does it make sense that the writer of the sentence you are wondering about wanted to somehow emphasize that the people being discussed don't just identify themselves as culturally deaf but also use sign language? Not really. Maybe the writer added the commas to make the rest of the answers choices work.
Last edited by MartyMurray on Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Sat Jul 11, 2015 4:37 am
Marty's explanation about emphasis is correct, but I think the phrasing actually does need to be emphasized here. It is a key component that the families use sign language - the use is what develops language abilities, the topic of the sentence. It would be easy to miss that point otherwise.
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by MartyMurray » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:09 am
Jim@StratusPrep wrote:Marty's explanation about emphasis is correct, but I think the phrasing actually does need to be emphasized here. It is a key component that the families use sign language - the use is what develops language abilities, the topic of the sentence. It would be easy to miss that point otherwise.
Wow, Jim, you nailed it. Too funny, I explained it and then didn't even notice just how well what I explained applies. Maybe I just didn't expect to see such a subtle and well executed use of punctuation in a GMAT preparation question.
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