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Difficulty: MediumConjunctions and Clause Structure

Which subordinating conjunction correctly completes the concessive clause in the sentence below?

Answer:The university senate sustained the disciplinary action against the offending student, 【although】 several faculty members argued passionately for leniency.

Answer

although (or 'even though' / 'though')
The sentence requires a subordinating conjunction of concession to join the main clause with a dependent finite clause that contains a subject ('several faculty members') and verb ('argued'). 'Although', 'even though', and 'though' correctly fulfill this syntactic and semantic function.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the semantic relationship between the independent main clause and the dependent subordinate clause.
The main clause states an outcome ('sustained the disciplinary action'), while the subordinate clause introduces a contrasting circumstance ('several faculty members argued passionately for leniency').
Establishing that a contrast or concession is being introduced narrows the choice to concessive connectives.
2
Examine the grammatical structure of the subordinate element.
The element following the blank contains a full subject ('several faculty members') and a finite verb ('argued'), forming a complete finite clause.
A finite clause requires a subordinating conjunction (such as 'although') rather than a preposition (such as 'despite' or 'in spite of') which requires a noun phrase complement.

Key Concept

Subordinating Conjunctions of Concession
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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