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ACT English 1.11 Passage Drill 218 Views


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ACT English: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 11. How would you correct this introductory phrase?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by mature acorns. A more sophisticated kind of nut.

00:09

Check out the following passage and answer the question below.

00:28

How would you correct the underlined portion of the following sentence? Does it need correcting?

00:33

What you can expect is,

00:41

This question is looking for concision.

00:46

The underlined portion is an introductory phrase, so its job is to set the stage for

00:51

the sentence to come. Usually, it's best to do this in as few words as possible. People

00:55

tend to tune out when it takes too long to get to the main event.

00:58

Choice (B) is redundant, making it an obvious elimination. "As is usually the case" and

01:04

"in general" get across the same basic meaning. Therefore, there's absolutely no need to use

01:08

both phrases--unless one enjoys being redundant.

01:10

(A) introduces the sentence with the phrase "what you can expect is." Not only is this

01:18

phrase wordy, it's also awkward because it implies that the rest of the sentence will

01:22

be in the future tense. If we're expecting something, that means it hasn't happened yet,

01:27

right? The verbs in the sentence--"are" and "buy"--are both in the present tense, so this

01:32

introductory phrase sets up a false expectation. Sorry, (A), but we hate being disappointed.

01:38

This brings us to choices (C) and (D), which offer the phrases "in a general case" and

01:42

"in general." Our choice isn't too hard since we know we want the shortest introductory

01:46

phrase possible. "In general" is the shortest option, making (D) the best answer.

01:51

The shortest option is often best, except in the NBA draft.

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