There are no errors in this sentence. The phrase "was fascinated" is not in the passive voice because it does not mean that someone else is fascinating Marla in this sentence. The verb here is actually "was," simply acting as a linking verb with "fascinated" describing Marla. Changing the "was" to "is" or omitting it actually does not make any sense grammatically. Additionally, the sentence combines two independent clauses with the coordinate conjunction "so," so a comma is necessary before the conjunction. The correct answer replicates the underlined portion of the example sentence.

This sentence contains, while somewhat awkward, contains no grammatical errors. The phrase "As Kelsey was writing the last parts of her book" is an introductory phrase, explaining information necessary to the context of the sentence, but outside of the main sentence, grammatically. These types of phrases must be followed by a comma in order to separate them from the rest of the sentence. The main clause, "her team worked on: formatting, marketing, and everything else that would make her book successful" contains a list of parallel phrases which must be separated with commas. No corrections are necessary. The correct choice is, "As Kelsey was writing the last parts of her book, her team worked on formatting, marketing, and everything else that would make her book successful."

This sentence contains no errors. The phrase "which was supposed to arrive in ten minutes" is an example of a relative clause, which gives more information about its antecedent: the airplane. Any such phrase that occurs in the middle of a sentence must be introduced and completed with a comma. The correct answer choice is, "that the airplane, which was supposed to arrive in ten minutes, would not arrive."

This sentence contains no errors. The phrase "Every time the company would announce a new product" is an example of an introductory phrase, explaining information necessary to the context of the sentence, but outside of the main sentence, grammatically. These types of phrases must be followed by a comma in order to separate them from the rest of the sentence. The rest of the sentence does not need any sort of punctuation because it is a simple phrase. The correct choice: "would announce a new product, people would line up outside the stores for days in anticipation of its release."

This sentence contains no errors. The sentence combines an independent clause to a dependent clause with the use of a colon. This is correct because colons are used to combine clauses when the second one explains something about the first clause, provided that the first clause is an independent clause (note that a semicolon can only be used to join two independent clauses). Furthermore, the word "Smooth Criminal" must be in quotes because it is the name of a song (same rule as poems, short stories, etc.). The correct choice is, "while she worked: Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." "

This sentence contains no errors: it is a simple sentence. A colon is unnecessary because it comes after a dependent clause in the available choices (not possible with colons). The commas are also unnecessary because it is inappropriate to use a comma to introduce a prepositional phrase, as in "in life," or to separate an adverbial phrase: "where she grew up." The correct choice is, "Her dream in life was to become the mayor of the town where she grew up."

This sentence contains no errors. The phrase "string, woodwind, and keyboard" describes exactly what types of instruments Kim has mastered. A colon is used when joining two clauses when the second clause explains something in the first one - the second phrase does exactly that (it does not matter that it is not an independent clause). The correct choice is, "various types of instruments: string, woodwind, and keyboard."

This sentence contains no errors. It joins two independent clauses with the use of the coordinate conjunction "but," so a comma should appear before the "but." Otherwise, there is no need for punctuation since all the other options simply split up existing clauses for no logical reason. The correct choice is, "Dennis usually sang in order to relieve stress, but this technique did not seem to work as well anymore."

This sentence contains no errors. This sentence is a simple sentence, so there is no need for punctuation whatsoever: there is only one clause. Commas do not come before prepositions (before) or split verbs. The correct choice is, "Joanna always preferred to compare as many different options as possible before making a purchase. "

This sentence contains no errors. The phrase "Though Colin followed all of the instructor's directions" is an example of an introductory phrase, explaining information necessary to the context of the sentence, but outside of the main sentence, grammatically. These types of phrases must be followed by a comma in order to separate them from the rest of the sentence. Furthermore, "him" is the appropriate word after the word "to," because it is acting as the object of the preposition ("he" must always be the subject of its clause). The answer is, "all of the instructor's directions, he could not get the boomerang to return to him."