ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by multiple choice. Like, why can't it be

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stop, drop OR roll?

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How would you correct the underlined portion of the following sentence, if at all?

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There were several options to choose from; moreover there was only one right choice.

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Okay, so here we're looking for the transition word that helps us set up a contradiction

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or contrast.

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Choice (A) is wrong because the original sentence uses "moreover" to connect the two ideas.

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"Moreover" is usually used to add one idea to another, not to set up a contradiction.

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So, we're sure (A) is confused and should probably seek professional help.

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(C) tries "similarly" on for size, but unfortunately it just doesn't fit.

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"Similarly" is used to connect two ideas that are, well...similar.

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As we've said before, we're on the hunt for a word that sets up contrast, so we can

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eliminate answer ©.

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Choice (D) offers "finally," which doesn't set up a contrast either. "Finally" is used

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to hammer home the final point of an argument.

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It's good for listing the concluding points of an essay or paragraph, but that's about it.

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If we were writing a manifesto declaring why our former friend, Boris, is a jerk, we might

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end it with a kicker like...

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"Finally, Boris is a jerk because he put a dead rat in the punch at the New Year's Eve

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Though "finally" might be good in that kind of a situation, it's no good for setting up

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contrasts. So we can get rid of (D).

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Choice (B) gets it right by using "however" to correctly set up the contrast between the

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two clauses.

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Although the speaker has several questions to choose from, only one can be right.

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Hey, sounds a lot like the situation we were just presented with. Look at he ACT getting

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all meta on us.

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