Question

Which of the following is the correct way to abbreviate this passage? “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” [L.8.2.b]
a. “We the people of the United State (in order to form a more perfect union) do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
b. “We the people of the United States—insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense—do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
c. “We the people of the United States. In order to form a more perfect union. Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
d. “We the people of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Answer 1

It would be a. "We the people of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We can rule out c immediately, because it has dependent clauses standing on its own. B. can also be ruled out, because the clause in-between the hyphen does not read correctly. A. is correct grammatically, but D. is also grammatically correct and it explains it in a quick and understandable way.