ShmoopTube

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Here’s your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by rings of spraying water.

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FYI: these don’t work well as wedding rings.

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Brought to you by Zales.

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Check out the following passage...

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

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After a certain amount of time?

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And here are the potential answers...

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This question wants us to be accurate and concise.

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The best answer will help the writer move from the previous sentence

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to the sentence the transition introduces.

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We’ll eliminate option (B) first because the the word “however” interrupts the flow of logic.

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And if there’s one the flow of logic hates, it’s being interrupted.

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The word “however” is used to contrast one idea with another. Example:

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“He says he hates Katy Perry; however, I heard him singing ‘Roar’ in the shower.”

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Of course, the real question with this example is how exactly did this person hear the other

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one in the shower. Let’s just leave that one to the imagination.

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Choices (A) and (C) both get across the right idea. What we need is a word or phrase that

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tells us it takes some time for a spiral pattern of water to turn into a full-fledged cascade.

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The phrases “after a certain amount of time” and “what happens next is that” don’t

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have any problems communicating this. They do have a problem with concision, however.

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We’re going to check out our final option and hope it’s not so wordy.

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Ah, look at that. Choice (D) is correct because it gets the job done in one word: “eventually.”

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It succinctly communicates the idea that a bit of time is needed for spiraling water

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to grow into a cascade.

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Isn’t it cute when it grows up?

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