Question 1

How is using a colon correct on the first question?

Accepted Answer

Remember that the second part of the sentence "enough to power a household microwave for 85,000 minutes." is an example/explanation for the previous statement "An average bolt of lightning produces a tremendous amount of energy". Whenever you have an explanation or an example for the  first part (in this case: An average bolt of lightning produces a tremendous amount of energy) that is an independent clause you can have a colon, to connect the two phrases. That's why the colon is colon is correct for the first question. 
Hope this helps! :) 
Have a good day!

Question 2

what about '-'? Will the dash be on the SAT?

Accepted Answer

BTW if you are wondering, the "dash" that you are referring to is called an em dash (—).

Question 3

Would "Wide-spread vaccination can functionally eliminate the dangers of many diseases: polio, measles, and tetanus." be correct since "such as" is not included?

Accepted Answer

In my opinion, it's perfectly fine to have that sentence without a "such as" before the colon. All colons do is say "take note of this following bit", and one way they do so is by introducing lists of examples. It's pretty commonly understood that polio, measles, and tetanus are all diseases, so adding the "such as" wouldn't really serve much of a purpose in the sentence, as the colon implicitly does everything it's doing.

Question 4

Do you always have to separate lists with a colon?

Accepted Answer

You don't. You can separate lists from the rest of the sentence with a whole lot of things, or nothing at all. For example, you could say "To make my secret breakfast recipe, I'll need waffles, bananas, and yogurt.", which doesn't have anything separating the list from the rest of the sentence. The rule for a colon is that you only need it if the part before the list can stand on its own. In the previous example, a colon would look silly because "To make my secret breakfast recipe, I'll need" isn't a complete thought. Instead, you could have said "I'll need three things for my secret breakfast recipe: waffles, bananas, and yogurt. (Credit to Hecretary Bird)

Question 5

Do you always have to separate lists with a colon?

Accepted Answer

You don't. You can seperate lists from the rest of the sentence with a whole lot of things, or nothing at all. For example, you could say "To make my secret breakfast recipe, I'll need waffles, bananas, and yogurt.", which doesn't have anything separating the list from the rest of the sentence. The rule for a colon is that you only need it if the part before the list can stand on its own. In the previous example, a colon would look silly because "To make my secret breakfast recipe, I'll need" isn't a complete thought. Instead, you could have said "I'll need three things for my secret breakfast recipe: waffles, bananas, and yogurt."

SAT (Fall 2023)

Course: SAT (Fall 2023) > Unit 11

Colons | Quick guide

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