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

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?

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

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 ellipsis
   • dash, then ellipsis
   • ellipsis, then dash
   • dash, then dash
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 sign says, “The pool opens at nine on summer weekends.” The pool—our favorite spot is closed on Mondays. Ari edits a draft that quotes a pool sign. The sign said the pool opens at nine and closes at eight on summer weekends. Which revision fixes both slips?

    • The sign says, “The pool opens at nine on summer weekends.” The pool—our favorite spot—is closed on Mondays.
    • The sign says, “The pool opens at nine … on summer weekends.” The pool—our favorite spot—is closed, on Mondays.
    • The sign says, “The pool opens at nine … on summer weekends.” The pool—our favorite spot—is closed on Mondays.
    • The sign says, “The pool opens at nine … on summer weekends.” The pool—our favorite spot is closed on Mondays.
11. 7.

    “Please wait Milo,” said the coach, “because the van—which arrives at noon, is late.” Bo edits a draft about a late van. Two marks are wrong or missing. Which revision fixes both and changes nothing else?

    • “Please wait, Milo,” said the coach, “because the van—which arrives at noon—is late.”
    • “Please wait Milo,” said the coach, “because the van—which arrives at noon—is late.”
    • “Please wait, Milo,” said the coach, “because the van—which arrives at noon, is late.”
    • “Please wait, Milo,” said the coach, “because, the van—which arrives at noon—is late.”

12. 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.”

13. 8.

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

    • Unfair: the ellipsis should sit at the start of the quotation, not in the middle.
    • 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.

14. 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.”

15. 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: the ellipsis shows a cut, and that is enough to make it honest.
    • Fair: just one small word is hidden, so the meaning stays the same.

16. 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.”

17. 10.

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

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