Question

"Blue whales ,begin underline,are gentle giants and the largest animals in the world, but their food consists of tiny, shrimp-like animals called krill. These gentle giants,end underline, can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

Question
This excerpt will be quoted in a research paper, and the underlined words will be left out.



How should the shortened excerpt be punctuated?

Answer options with 4 options
1.
"Blue whales, can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

2.
"Blue whales: can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

3.
"Blue whales—can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

4.
"Blue whales . . . can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

Answer 1

The correct option for the punctuation of the shortened excerpt is:

4. "Blue whales . . . can eat up to 12,000 pounds of krill a day."

Using ellipses indicates that text has been omitted from the original quote, making it the best choice for this context.