Question

read the excerpt from \votes for women,\ a speech by mark twain from 1901.
as for this citys government, i dont want to say much, except that it is a shame – a shame; but if i should live twenty-five years longer – and there is no reason why i shouldnt – i think ill see women handle the ballot.
which quotation correctly uses ellipsis to shorten twains words?
as for this citys government, i dont want to say much, except that it is a shame . . . a shame; but if i should live twenty-five years longer – and there is no reason why i shouldnt . . . i think ill see women handle the ballot.
as for this citys government, i dont want to say much, except that it is a shame – a shame; but if i should live twenty-five years longer . . . i shouldnt – i think ill see women handle the ballot.
as for this citys government, i dont want to say much, except that it is a shame – a shame; but if i should live twenty-five years longer – and there is no reason why i shouldnt . . . .
as for this citys government, i dont want to say much, except that it is a shame – a shame; but if i should live twenty-five years longer . . . i think ill see women handle the ballot.

Explanation:

An ellipsis correctly replaces omitted, non-essential words while preserving the original meaning and grammatical flow.

1. The first option uses ellipses where no words are omitted, which is incorrect.
2. The second option omits words but leaves a disjointed phrase ("I shouldn't – I think") that breaks the original logic.
3. The third option cuts off the sentence mid-thought, which is an improper use of ellipsis.
4. The fourth option omits the non-essential clause "– and there is no reason why I shouldn't" with an ellipsis, keeping the core meaning and grammatical correctness intact.

Answer:

As for this city's government, I don't want to say much, except that it is a shame – a shame; but if I should live twenty-five years longer . . . I think I'll see women handle the ballot.