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ACT English 5.6 Passage Drill 179 Views


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Description:

ACT English: Passage Drill 5, Problem 6. How would you correct the underlined segment, if at all?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by orb-weavers. Putting regular weavers to shame.

00:21

How would you correct this underlined segment from the passage, if at all?

00:25

Focusing

00:26

And here are the potential answers...

00:31

Let's begin by reading the sentence as is. Maybe we'll get lucky, and it'll be perfect.

00:36

Fingers crossed.

00:37

"Focusing on orb-weavers because their webs are the most recognizable."

00:42

No such luck. There's definitely a problem here.

00:44

Who came up with that "fingers crossed" thing anyway?

00:47

Option (A) is incorrect because kicking things off with the word "focusing" makes the sentence incomplete.

00:51

The word "focusing" fools us into thinking the sentence is beginning with a gerund phrase,

00:56

which is a type of phrase that functions as a noun.

00:58

In this case, it sounds like the gerund phrase is going to be the subject of the sentence.

01:03

However, there's no verb to tell us what the phrase "focusing on orb-weavers because their

01:08

webs are the most recognizable" does.

01:11

Though we suspect that focusing on orb-weavers can't do anything good for anybody.

01:14

Long story short: every subject needs a verb if it wants to make a complete sentence--even

01:18

if that subject is an entire phrase.

01:21

Option (A) is out.

01:22

(D) suggests we begin the sentence with "We'll have a focus." This doesn't work, though,

01:27

because "have a focus" is an awkward language construct.

01:30

Incidentally, we like to have our focus with a side of fries.

01:33

Answer (B) isn't great either.

01:34

"We're to focus" makes it sound like someone is requiring that the paragraph focus on orb-weavers.

01:39

Sure, it's possible some obsessive spider-lover is standing over the author in a Spider Man

01:44

suit demanding the orb-weaver focus, but that's unlikely.

01:47

We hope.

01:48

The correct answer is (C).

01:49

"We will focus" makes the sentence complete and doesn't throw any linguistic curveballs our way.

01:54

Excuse us while we go lock our door. We're kinda worried that guy in the Spider Man suit

01:58

is creeping our way.

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