ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by first place. Or, as we like to look at

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it, last loser.

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What should replace the underlined portion below, if anything?

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She was still quite upset, while she had won first prize.

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This relationship is basically the opposite of cause-and-effect: something happened even

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though something else happened.

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So we're looking for the transition that helps get across the idea that something a bit surprising

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happened.

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(A) is incorrect because "while" signals that two events happened simultaneously.

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"Had won" is in the past perfect tense, which indicates that something happened in the past

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before something else did...(there was a whole time sequence there)...

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...and which means that the events in question couldn't be happening simultaneously. "While"

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is all kinds of wrong. That is, unless some kind of multi-dimensional

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time warp is occurring. Seems highly unlikely unless you're playing with the "Big Bang" guys.

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(B) is incorrect because "unless" sets up a conditional relationship.

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As we said before, this sentence isn't trying to show how one thing is caused by another

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thing.

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Wording like, "She knew she was going to be upset unless she won first prize," would make

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sense, but it's unfortunately not an option here.

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Our girl is upset even though she won, so choice (B) is nixed.

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(C) is incorrect because "whether" is usually used to state alternative possibilities.

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"She was upset because she didn't know whether or not she'd won first prize," would be an

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example.

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In the sentence at hand, however, we know that she definitely won first prize and was

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definitely upset. There are no variables here, making (C) a no-go.

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Choice (D) is what we've been looking for.

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The transition word "although" correctly establishes the contrast between the two ideas, and we're

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left to wonder why this girl would be upset, despite the fact that she won.

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Somebody should tell her there's nothing worse than a sore winner.

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