Question

the english alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which looks like this: &. today, this symbol is above the number 7 on a keyboard and means and.
this excerpt will be quoted in a research paper, and the underlined words will be left out.
how should the shortened excerpt be punctuated?

1. \the english alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which means and.\
2. \the english alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which, means and.\
3. \the english alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which—means and\
4. \the english alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which... means and.\

Explanation:

When omitting words from a quoted excerpt, an ellipsis ( ... ) is used to indicate the omission of text while maintaining the grammatical flow. Option 1 incorrectly removes text without indication. Option 2 adds an incorrect comma. Option 3 uses a dash, which is not standard for omitting text in quotations. Option 4 uses the ellipsis correctly to show the omitted words ("looks like this: &. Today, this symbol is above the number 7 on a keyboard and").

Answer:

1. "The English alphabet once had a letter called the ampersand, which ... means and."