Commas, dashes and ellipses

Grade 8 Reading Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Gap 1

   Pia hesitates, unsure of the answer. Gap 2: a loud bell cuts Pia off. Pia: “I think the answer is [1] maybe twelve.” Pia: “Quick, before the bell rings, we should [2]”

2. 1.

   Noah fills two gaps in a script. Which pair of marks goes in order?

   • dash, then ellipsis
   • dash, then dash
   • ellipsis, then ellipsis
   • ellipsis, then dash

3. Gap 1

   a shout cuts Luz off. Gap 2: a light pause comes before the name of the person Milo is speaking to. Luz: “I only wanted to [1]” Milo: “Hand me the tape [2] Zee.”

4. 2.

   Pia fills two gaps in a script. Which pair of marks goes in order?

   • comma, then dash
   • dash, then dash
   • dash, then comma
   • comma, then comma

5. Gap 1

   a light pause comes before the name of the person Bo is thanking. Gap 2: Ari hesitates and loses the thought. Bo: “Thanks for the ride [1] Ari.” Ari: “No problem. I was hoping we could [2] oh, never mind.”

6. 3.

   Ren fills two gaps in a script. Which pair of marks goes in order?

   • comma, then ellipsis
   • ellipsis, then comma
   • ellipsis, then ellipsis
   • comma, then comma

7. Gap 1

   a crash cuts Tala off. Gap 2: the writer left out words in the middle of a quotation. Tala: “Watch out for the [1]” The note says, “Please return the map [2] to the front office by noon.”

8. 4.

   Tala fills two gaps in a script. Which pair of marks goes in order?

   • ellipsis, then dash
   • dash, then dash
   • dash, then ellipsis
   • ellipsis, then ellipsis
9. 5.

   The lighthouse—built long ago, still guides boats home. Its keeper however lives in town. Zee edits a draft about a lighthouse. Two marks are wrong or missing. Which revision fixes both and changes nothing else?

   • The lighthouse—built long ago, still guides boats home. Its keeper, however, lives in town.
   • The lighthouse—built long ago—still guides boats home. Its keeper, however, lives, in town.
   • The lighthouse—built long ago—still guides boats home. Its keeper, however, lives in town.
   • The lighthouse—built long ago—still guides boats home. Its keeper however lives in town.
10. 6.

    The mural—painted by the whole class took a month to finish. The art teacher of course was proud. Esme edits a draft about a class mural. Two marks are wrong or missing. Which revision fixes both and changes nothing else?

    • The mural—painted by the whole class—took a month to finish. The art teacher of course was proud.
    • The mural—painted by the whole class—took a month to finish. The art teacher, of course, was proud.
    • The mural—painted by the whole class took a month to finish. The art teacher, of course, was proud.
    • The mural—painted by the whole class—took a month to finish. The art teacher, of course, was, proud.

11. Original

    “The library does not allow food near the computers because crumbs damage the keyboards.” Shortened: “The library … allow food near the computers because crumbs damage the keyboards.”

12. 7.

    Jun checks a shortened quotation for a school report. Which statement judges the cut correctly?

    • Fair: just two small words are hidden, so the meaning stays the same.
    • Unfair: an ellipsis cannot stand in the middle of a sentence.
    • Unfair: the ellipsis hides “does not”, so the quote says the opposite of the writer.
    • Fair: an ellipsis marks words that were cut, so the cut is allowed.

13. Original

    “The garden produced vegetables that the students had planted themselves in April for the lunch program.” Shortened: “The garden produced vegetables … for the lunch program.”

14. 8.

    Kira checks a shortened quotation for a school report. Which statement judges the cut correctly?

    • Fair: the ellipsis hides a background detail, so the writer's claim is the same.
    • Unfair: the hidden words say who did the planting, and the claim depends on that.
    • Unfair: the shortened quote has fewer words than the original.
    • Unfair: the ellipsis should sit at the start of the quotation, not in the middle.

15. Original

    “At the winter concert the choir will perform only songs written by students.” Shortened: “At the winter concert the choir will perform … songs written by students.”

16. 9.

    Luz checks a shortened quotation for a school report. Which statement judges the cut correctly?

    • Unfair: an ellipsis cannot go between two words of one sentence.
    • Unfair: the ellipsis hides “only”, so the quote loses the limit the writer set.
    • Fair: just one small word is hidden, so the meaning stays the same.
    • Fair: the ellipsis shows a cut, and that is enough to make it honest.

17. Original

    “The class turtle lives in a large tank by the window and eats lettuce every day.” Shortened: “The class turtle lives in a large tank … and eats lettuce every day.”

18. 10.

    Milo checks a shortened quotation for a school report. Which statement judges the cut correctly?

    • Unfair: the cut makes the quote shorter than what the writer wrote.
    • Unfair: the hidden words say where the tank sits, and the claim depends on that.
    • Unfair: the ellipsis belongs at the end of the quotation, not in the middle.
    • Fair: the ellipsis hides where the tank sits, so the writer's claim is the same.