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ACT English: Passage Drill 2, Problem 11. Which of the following sentences would make the most effective transition?
In this ACT English passage drill determine if the writer of the passage may or may not have achieved their proposed goal.
ACT English: Passage Drill Drill 3, Problem 2. What would the paragraph lose if the writer omits the underlined phrase?
ACT English 1.3 Organization 274 Views
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Description:
ACT English: Organization Drill 1, Problem 3. Can you find the correct transition?
- Rhetorical Skills / Organization: Sentences and Paragraphs
- Product Type / ACT English
- English I EOC Assessment / Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs
- English I EOC Assessment / Organization
- Essay Revision / Coherence, Organization, and Word Choice
- Essay Revision / Rhetorical Effectiveness and Use of Organization
- Rhetorical Skills / Organization
Transcript
- 00:04
Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by first place. Or, as we like to look at
- 00:08
it, last loser.
- 00:13
What should replace the underlined portion below, if anything?
- 00:17
She was still quite upset, while she had won first prize.
- 00:30
This relationship is basically the opposite of cause-and-effect: something happened even
Full Transcript
- 00:36
though something else happened.
- 00:38
So we're looking for the transition that helps get across the idea that something a bit surprising
- 00:43
happened.
- 00:45
(A) is incorrect because "while" signals that two events happened simultaneously.
- 00:50
"Had won" is in the past perfect tense, which indicates that something happened in the past
- 00:56
before something else did...(there was a whole time sequence there)...
- 01:00
...and which means that the events in question couldn't be happening simultaneously. "While"
- 01:05
is all kinds of wrong. That is, unless some kind of multi-dimensional
- 01:09
time warp is occurring. Seems highly unlikely unless you're playing with the "Big Bang" guys.
- 01:16
(B) is incorrect because "unless" sets up a conditional relationship.
- 01:21
As we said before, this sentence isn't trying to show how one thing is caused by another
- 01:24
thing.
- 01:25
Wording like, "She knew she was going to be upset unless she won first prize," would make
- 01:32
sense, but it's unfortunately not an option here.
- 01:35
Our girl is upset even though she won, so choice (B) is nixed.
- 01:40
(C) is incorrect because "whether" is usually used to state alternative possibilities.
- 01:45
"She was upset because she didn't know whether or not she'd won first prize," would be an
- 01:52
example.
- 01:52
In the sentence at hand, however, we know that she definitely won first prize and was
- 01:57
definitely upset. There are no variables here, making (C) a no-go.
- 02:02
Choice (D) is what we've been looking for.
- 02:04
The transition word "although" correctly establishes the contrast between the two ideas, and we're
- 02:10
left to wonder why this girl would be upset, despite the fact that she won.
- 02:14
Somebody should tell her there's nothing worse than a sore winner.
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