Question #N7
When the astronaut was asked about the experience, he spoke about how he felt an overwhelming sense of awe. This feeling was so profound that he could only articulate it by saying, "It's impossible to describe." The astronaut's experience, in essence, was too vast to be captured by language.
Which of the following choices best combines the two sentences at the underlined portion to maintain the meaning and structure of the passage?
A. It's impossible to describe, the astronaut said.
B. The astronaut said, "It's impossible to describe."
C. The astronaut said, "It's impossible to describe;"
D. The astronaut said, It's impossible to describe.
Correct Answer is: B
The correct answer is B. The quotation marks are used to enclose the astronaut’s exact words and create a grammatically correct sentence. In this case, a comma should be used to separate the introductory phrase and the quotation, as shown in Choice B.