Answer:
Fewer people had decided to buy lunch at the cafeteria; instead, they packed a lunch to bring from home.
C. ;instead, they packed a lunch to bring from home.
Explanation:
This question is concerned with the use of commas and semicolons. One of the functions of semicolons is to join two independent clauses with closely related ideas that are not joined by a conjunction like “and,” “or,” and “but.” The sentence provided consists of two independent clauses: “Fewer people had decided to buy lunch at the cafeteria” and “instead, they packed a lunch to bring from home,” which are not joined by a coordinating conjunction. Therefore, a semicolon should be placed between these two clauses.
Besides, option C is the correct answer because it also uses the comma correctly. The comma here separates the introductory word “instead” from the rest of the sentence. Other examples of introductory words that require a comma after them are “meanwhile,” “thus,” “furthermore,” “besides,” “finally” and “however.”
