ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by tiny athletes.

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How would you correct the underlined portion below, if at all?

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Despite the obstacle of his slight build, Jack knew that it was only a matter of time

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before he would be able to play against the big boys.

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The tone of this sentence is kind of in between formal and informal.

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While "play against the big boys" may sound like a phrase an ESPN host might use,

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it's not formal enough to match "despite the obstacle of his slight build."

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Therefore, we know that we can nix choice (A) right off the bat.

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Choice (C) has the opposite problem of (A). The phrase "play against the renowned professionals"

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is too elevated for this sentence.

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So it looks like we're going to have to take (C) out of the game.

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Now we're down to (B) and (D), which both meet our needs in terms of tone.

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However, we can call a foul on (D) because it leaves out essential information.

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The whole point of the sentence is that one day this guy will be a professional, despite

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his current size.

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