ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by anti-venom.

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A much more popular product than pro-venom.

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What should replace the underlined words below?

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Prompt treatment with an anti-venom had done much to ensure that you survive a snake bite.

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Hint number one: "to ensure that you survive" signals that this sentence describes how to

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treat a snake bite in general.

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Advice, instructions, and other tips are usually in the present tense so that the information

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feels relevant to the situation at hand.

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With that in mind, all we have to do is troll through the answer choices and find the one in present tense.

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Therefore we can eliminate (A) because the helping verb, "had," lets us know it's in

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the past perfect tense instead of the present.

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While we're at it, we might as well go ahead and get rid of (C) as well, since the helping

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verb "has" is a dead giveaway that it's in the present perfect.

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Man, these helping verbs really aren't doing our answer choices any favors.

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(B) tries to impress us by whipping out the future perfect tense.

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Sure, it's flashy, but we're sticking to our guns, and holding out for a present tense

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option. Choice (D) rewards our efforts. "Can do much"

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is in the present tense, making it the correct answer.

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Hint number two: the best way to not die from a snake bite is not to get bitten in the first place.

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