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Q: According to recent studies, bananas are the most promising food for an edible vaccine against the hepatitis B virus,

A) but this virus is very common in many African countries

B) so that potatoes, tomatoes and other vegetables might serve to immunize people some day

C) just as symptoms of acute viral hepatitis usually begin suddenly

D) which lives in about 5 per cent of the world's population

E) whereas scientists have discovered a way to boost the level of immune-triggering hepatitis protein in the fruit

This is the question. I am asked to complete the sentence. The given answer is E. I think the answer should be D.

This is what I think about the question:

D seems to be the correct answer because it explains Hepatitis B virus. E, however should be wrong because "whereas" doesn't really go well with the rest of the sentence. Can you explain if I am wrong? Thanks.

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2 Answers 2

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You are right, Pufu. whereas is used to contrast two disparate pieces of information:

bananas are yellow whereas dates are brown

Example E is not disparate information, indeed it offers a reason for the first part, and so it should begin with because.

Example D provides additional information about the first part, and so it is appropriate to start the clause with the relative pronoun which.

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    Agreed, this is not a very well-written question. (E) is the answer I would expect from context (why bananas?), but the whereas throws me off. Of the remaining choices, (D) is the only one that fits, even if it leaves the sentence feeling incomplete
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 4, 2016 at 15:31
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    @Andrew: Why bananas? Apparently because it's easy to grow in countries where HepB is a problem. theguardian.com/science/2000/sep/08/gm.infectiousdiseases
    – JavaLatte
    Commented Dec 4, 2016 at 15:39
  • I mean that the most curious thing about the sentence is that they're putting the vaccine in bananas. I wanted to know how that worked, which (E) answers. (D) just gives me related but ancillary information.
    – Andrew
    Commented Dec 4, 2016 at 17:44
  • "whereas" seems to be used in the sort of legalese sense here.
    – Mark S.
    Commented Dec 4, 2016 at 23:39
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    @MarkS. There are two legalese meanings. The first matches the general meaning: the second has to be used at the beginning of a recital or formal document. legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Whereas. So even the legalese sense doesn't work.
    – JavaLatte
    Commented Dec 5, 2016 at 6:50
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like other friends I believe that "D" is correct in every sence of the world!! which is conecting 2 independant clauses and is explaining hepatitis B. whereas is used to show contrast while there isn't any contrasts!

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