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Question

Difficulty: EasyDashes

The following passage contains a sentence with a missing punctuation mark. What punctuation mark should be placed in the blank to complete the sentence with consistent and grammatically correct punctuation?

Answer:Coastal redwoods are among the oldest and most resilient organisms in the world. These massive trees—the tallest living things on Earth【—】can reach heights of over 350 feet and live for more than two thousand years.

Answer

An em dash (—) or dash
A dash is required to close the nonessential phrase because the phrase was opened with a dash. To maintain punctuation consistency, any parenthetical element set off by dashes must use a dash at both the beginning and the end.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the nonessential parenthetical phrase in the sentence.
The phrase is 'the tallest living things on Earth', which provides extra descriptive information about 'These massive trees'.
Recognizing the boundary of the nonessential element is necessary to determine what punctuation is needed to set it off from the rest of the sentence.
2
Examine the punctuation mark that opens the nonessential phrase.
An em dash (—) appears right before 'the tallest living things on Earth'.
Punctuation marks that set off parenthetical elements must be consistent on both sides.
3
Determine the punctuation mark needed to close the nonessential phrase.
A matching em dash (—) is required to close the phrase before the main verb 'can reach'.
Mixing a dash with another punctuation mark (like a comma) is incorrect; a dash must be matched with another dash.

Key Concept

Dashes
Estimated Time:45s
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