hard · GRE Verbal
A style guide states that a comma should separate items in a list only when the list contains more than two items. An editor reviewing a manuscript encounters the phrase “red, white and blue” and must decide whether the guide's rule requires a comma before “and blue” in this instance. What is the primary purpose of this passage?
- To prove that the manuscript's punctuation is incorrect
- To state a rule and apply it to a specific case to see what it requires
- To report the phrase without indicating what the stated rule implies for it
- To narrate the history of comma usage conventions in publishing
- To compare the style guide with a rival grammar authority's list rule
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