1. Judy leads a charmed life she never seems to have a serious accident.

This sentence is correct

life, she
life; she

We have two independent clauses here and they must be connected somehow. We can't
use the comma by itself without creating a comma splice.

2. The airport is about to shut down because of the snow and if the plane doesn't land
soon it will have to go on to Boston.
This sentence is correct
snow, and
snow; and
snow. And
We have two independent clauses connected with a little conjunction. Because of their
complexity, it would be a very good idea to separate them with a comma.

3. The show begins at 7:30 make sure you're there before 7:15.
This sentence is correct
7:30, make
7:30. Make
Our second sentence is a directive based on what was said in the first sentence.
Although the clauses are closely related, they still must be treated as independent
clauses. We could connect them with a comma + so, or we can leave them as two
separate sentences.

4. Marcellino always knew his way around the woods this is something he could always
depend on.
This sentence is correct
woods; this
woods, this
These clauses are clearly related; the pronoun 'this' connects the two clauses in
meaning. However, they are both independent clauses and need to be connected with a
comma + a little conjunction or they should be separated with a semicolon.

5. Having prepared himself well for the realtor exams and having exhausted everyone in
the family with his requests that someone help him with the true-and-false drills, Jeffrey,
who had never been a particularly good student in high school, knew he was ready to take
on the greatest challenge of his life.
This sentence is correct
drills; Jeffrey
Jeffrey -- who had never been a particularly good student in high school -- knew
There is nothing wrong with that sentence as it is written. Remember that length has
nothing to do with whether a sentence is a run-on or not.
6. Throughout history money and religion were closely linked there was little distinction
between government and religion.
This sentence is correct
linked because there was
linked, there was
In our revision we subordinated the second clause to the first with the subordinating
conjunction 'because.' The comma by itself doesn't do the trick; it only creates a
comma-splice.

7. The head of state and the religious leader were often the same person all power rested
in one ruler.
This sentence is correct
person, all
person; all
The semicolon can be used here to connect two nicely balanced and closely related
ideas. The comma by itself creates a comma splice.

8. These powerful leaders decided what objects would serve as money their backing
encouraged public faith in the money.
This sentence is correct
money. Their
money, their
Although it would be possible to connect these two clauses with a semicolon, probably
the best bet is to separate them and treat them as separate sentences. The comma by
itself would create another comma splice; a comma + a little conjunction would
probably not be an adequate solution to this run-on.

9. Coins were minted of precious metals the religious overtones of money were then
strengthened.
This sentence is correct
metals, the
When coins were minted of precious metals, the . . . .
The comma by itself creates a comma splice. Instead of combining these independent
clauses with a comma and a little conjunction, we have subordinated the first clause to
the second with the subordinating word 'when'.

10. People already believed the precious metals to be divine so their use in money
intensified its allure.
This sentence is correct
divine, so
divine; so
divine their
Although we have connected these two independent clauses with a little conjunction
('so'), we also need a comma to separate these clauses. We never use a semicolon and a
little conjunction to connect independent clauses.