Extract:
What punctuation is needed in the following sentence to make it correct?
Have you finished reading the lab results so we can schedule an appointment with the patient
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A
Period
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B
Question mark
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C
Comma
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D
Semicolon
A question mark is needed at the end because this is an interrogative sentence asking whether the reader has finished reading lab results.
A) Period
A period would incorrectly treat this interrogative sentence as declarative. Questions require question marks regardless of indirect phrasing ("Have you finished...").
B) Question mark
Question mark correctly punctuates this direct question beginning with the auxiliary verb "Have." Interrogative sentences always require terminal question marks in formal writing.
C) Comma
A comma cannot serve as terminal punctuation. While commas may appear within questions, they cannot replace required question marks at sentence endings.
D) Semicolon
Semicolons connect independent clauses—they cannot terminate interrogative sentences. Using a semicolon here would create ungrammatical punctuation.
Conclusion
Sentences beginning with auxiliary verbs in subject-auxiliary inversion ("Have you," "Is she," "Did they") are interrogative and require terminal question marks. No exception exists for medical or professional contexts—questions always demand question mark punctuation.