A dash, like a semicolon, can be used to separate a new thought in a sentence from the original thought. Let's take a look at our answer choices and see which fits this description the best...
1. "I am learning about Japan -- believe it or not, it is a chain of around 4,000 islands."
This looks pretty good. The speaker is representing an original thought in the part regarding their learning about Japan, and then introducing a new thought with the statement about the fact that Japan is a chain of around 4,000 islands.
This looks like a good bet as our right answer, but let us examine the other answers anyway.
2. "I am learning -- about Japan believe it or not, it is a chain of around 4,000 islands."
This choice doesn't seem to make much sense no matter which way you look at it. Grammatical and punctuation errors abound. We can scratch this off our list.
3. "I am learning about Japan believe it or not -- it is a chain of around 4,000 islands."
This would almost be correct if it had a period after the word 'Japan', since there is an interjection being used there. Commas will always precede an interjection (or follow one if it is at the beginning of the sentence).
So our correct answer is choice 1, as this is the only sentence that correctly uses the dash, as well as all the other punctuation.
Hope that helped! =)
Answer:
A heart condition was hereditary in their mother's family. In the absence of Scout's mother, Calpurnia became a mother-like figure for the Finch children.
Explanation:
The tone of this article is highly critical towards those who complain about the challenges and adversities that life brings upon them, or that they bring upon themselves, and, instead of seeing them as opportunities to surpass themselves and even excel, they focus on feeling sorry for themselves, and expect others to feel the same way about them. They adopt a conformist attitude that might be reflecting a lack of confidence or a limited capability. Furthermore, the tone of the article is outspoken yet encouraging. Life may not be fair, and it is certainly not easy, particularly for some people, but a positive attitude and personal drive can go a long way to make the most out of it.
