Final answer:
The phrase 'At the end of the first semester.' is a sentence fragment, which is a group of words that lacks a complete thought. Sentence fragments can be corrected by completing the missing parts of the sentence to convey a full idea. The correct option is e. fragment.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question 'At the end of the first semester.' is an example of a sentence fragment because it lacks a complete thought and does not contain a subject or a predicate. According to the grammar rules outlined, a sentence must have both a subject and a verb to be complete. Additionally, if the sentence fragment is used intentionally in writing, it should be clear to the reader. To correct a sentence fragment, you could expand the phrase to create a full sentence, such as 'At the end of the first semester, students are able to evaluate their academic progress.'
It is important to avoid common errors in writing like comma splices, run-on sentences, and errors in subject-verb agreement. A comma splice occurs when two complete sentences are joined by a comma without a coordinating conjunction. Subject-verb agreement errors can be checked by ensuring that the subject and the verb of a sentence agree in number. Both of these types of errors, along with sentence fragments, can make a text difficult to read and understand.