ShmoopTube

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Here’s your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by third-hand accounts.

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If we had a third hand, we’d save it for something cooler than accounting.

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Check out the following passage...

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At this point, the writer would like to add a sentence concluding the passage.

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Which of the following choices would best fit??

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And here are the potential answers...

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Our hearts go out to this writer.

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The closing line of an essay can be a toughy. Let’s go through the answer choices and

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see which one does the best job of summing up the main point of the article.

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Ending the article with choice (B) would be kinda random--almost as random as when fish

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and frogs fall out of the sky.

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Nowhere does the passage discuss anyone’s lack of knowledge about weather.

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So it would definitely be weird to end the entire article that way.

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(C) is incorrect because the passage talks about how we actually know a lot about waterspouts, not a little.

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The phrasing of this sentence also makes it sound like “animal rainfall” is a definite.

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However, the article raises the idea that the whole thing might be a myth, despite the

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fact that scientists think that waterspouts could feasibly be responsible.

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(D) is also wrong, because the suggestion that "we might be able to finally put this

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issue to rest" seems out of place, since the writer doesn't seem impatient for a definitive answer.

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(A) is the best answer because the passage describes how waterspouts could make animals

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"rain," but also is careful to say that it's something that "many," not all, scientists believe.

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A question: if it’s possible for fish and frogs to rain from the sky, then is it possible

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for it to truly rain cats and dogs?

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Let’s hope not.

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