ACT English 1.11 Passage Drill
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ACT English: Passage Drill Drill 1, Problem 11. How would you correct this introductory phrase?
ACT English | Passage Drill |
Language | English Language |
Product Type | ACT English |
Rhetorical Skills | Organization |
Style | Wordiness |
Transcript
The underlined portion is an introductory phrase, so its job is to set the stage for
the sentence to come. Usually, it's best to do this in as few words as possible. People
tend to tune out when it takes too long to get to the main event.
Choice (B) is redundant, making it an obvious elimination. "As is usually the case" and
"in general" get across the same basic meaning. Therefore, there's absolutely no need to use
both phrases--unless one enjoys being redundant.
(A) introduces the sentence with the phrase "what you can expect is." Not only is this
phrase wordy, it's also awkward because it implies that the rest of the sentence will
be in the future tense. If we're expecting something, that means it hasn't happened yet,
right? The verbs in the sentence--"are" and "buy"--are both in the present tense, so this
introductory phrase sets up a false expectation. Sorry, (A), but we hate being disappointed.
This brings us to choices (C) and (D), which offer the phrases "in a general case" and
"in general." Our choice isn't too hard since we know we want the shortest introductory
phrase possible. "In general" is the shortest option, making (D) the best answer.
The shortest option is often best, except in the NBA draft.