Question

Make the use of ellipses to shorten the paragraph:
"I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man, winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place- then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement- and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and faltering voice." - A Tale of Two Cities

A) NO CHANGE
B) “I see ... and a faltering voice.”
C) “I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man, winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine ... I see him, foremost of just judges and honoured men ... to this place- then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement- and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and faltering voice.”
D) “I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man, winning his way up in that path of life which once was ... I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I ... and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and faltering voice.”

Answer 1

Hint: This question is about Ellipses, i.e., (…). This is a grammatical tool used to shorten a word, line, or even a whole section of the text sometimes, without altering the meaning of the text. This tool is important when it comes to note-making, short-hand, etc. In order to answer these types of questions, keep in mind that the meaning must remain unchanged, i.e., you can omit anything that is not important for the meaning of the text. Also, keep in mind not to remove the parts that are essential for the meaning of the given text.

Complete answer:
Let us analyze the given options:
A) Option (A) is incorrect because it doesn’t make use of ellipses,i.e., no lines are omitted.
B) Option (B) is incorrect as it omits almost all the important information. There is nothing of importance left in the given option.
C) Option (C) is correct as it uses ellipses properly, all the relevant information is kept. There is no omission of meaningful parts and all the unnecessary information is omitted.
D) Option (D) is incorrect as it omits almost all the important parts. The texts which make the verse meaningful and easily understandable are removed.

Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: While making ellipses, a special focus on these tips will be helpful:
- Always focus on what’s important. i.e., the central idea of the text and keep that idea completely in the answer. Keep in mind that the meaning of the passage before and after using ellipses must be the same.
- Do not omit relevant information as that can change the meaning of the text. Important contextual cues are the backbone of the passage after ellipses.
- The parts that are to be omitted must not bear importance to the main idea, i.e., the central theme of the passage.