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Standard English ConventionsHardClosing a dash pair

Standard English Conventions practice question

The recipe's key ingredient—a bitter orange grown near ____ is hard to find outside Sicily.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  1. A. Palermo—Correct
  2. B. Palermo,
  3. C. Palermo;
  4. D. Palermo

Answer: A. Palermo—

An interruption opened with a dash closes with a dash.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Palermo,
A comma does not match the opening dash.
C. Palermo;
A semicolon splits subject from verb.
D. Palermo
The interruption is left open.

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