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Question

Difficulty: EasyDashes

The sentence below contains a nonessential phrase that begins with a dash. To ensure grammatical correctness and punctuation consistency, which punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to close this nonessential phrase?

Answer:Marine biologists have recently discovered that the Greenland shark—the longest-lived vertebrate animal known to science【—】can live for nearly four centuries.

Answer

A dash (—)
A dash is the correct punctuation mark because it matches the dash used to open the parenthetical phrase 'the longest-lived vertebrate animal known to science'. In standard English grammar, parenthetical elements set off by dashes must be enclosed by a consistent pair of dashes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the nonessential phrase in the sentence.
The phrase 'the longest-lived vertebrate animal known to science' is a nonessential appositive that describes the 'Greenland shark'.
Nonessential elements add extra details but can be removed from the sentence without changing its core meaning.
2
Determine the punctuation mark used to open the nonessential phrase.
The nonessential phrase begins with a dash ('—') after 'Greenland shark'.
Nonessential phrases must be set off by matching punctuation marks on both sides.
3
Select the correct closing punctuation mark.
A matching dash must be placed in the blank to close the nonessential phrase.
Mismatching punctuation marks (such as starting with a dash and ending with a comma) is grammatically incorrect.

Key Concept

Dash Pair Consistency
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Dashes

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