Correct Answer:
B. History, it has been said, is the essence of innumerable biographies.
This question assesses the correct use of commas to set off a parenthetical phrase. A parenthetical phrase provides additional, non-essential information and should be enclosed by commas on both sides to ensure grammatical clarity and proper sentence flow.
- Correct Option B: "History, it has been said, is the essence of innumerable biographies." correctly uses commas to isolate "it has been said," which functions as an interrupter. This demonstrates the accurate punctuation for such a phrase.
- Option A: Lacks the closing comma after "said," making the parenthetical phrase incomplete.
- Option C: Omits the opening comma before "it has been said," failing to properly introduce the interrupter.
- Option D: Incorrectly places a comma before "biographies" and also misses the second comma for the parenthetical phrase, disrupting the sentence structure.