Question 10·Easy·Transitions
Many desert animals cope with extreme daytime heat by becoming active only during the cooler hours. ______ the kangaroo rat emerges solely at night to forage for seeds.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read the sentences together without the transition first and decide the relationship: example, cause/effect, contrast, sequence, or time. Then check each answer only by its usual meaning (result, contrast, example, etc.) and eliminate any option that changes the logical relationship you identified. This approach is faster and more reliable than trying to plug in each choice by sound alone.
Hints
Identify the function of the second sentence
Ask yourself: Is the second sentence giving a cause, an effect, a contrast, something happening at the same time, or a specific case of the first sentence?
Focus on the subject of the second sentence
Notice that the second sentence talks about "the kangaroo rat." How does this animal relate to the more general phrase "many desert animals" in the first sentence?
Match the relationship to a transition type
Once you know how the second sentence relates to the first, think about what kinds of transitions show a result, a contrast, simultaneous events, or a specific instance, and choose the one that fits that relationship.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the relationship between the sentences
Read the two parts together:
- "Many desert animals cope with extreme daytime heat by becoming active only during the cooler hours."
- "______ the kangaroo rat emerges solely at night to forage for seeds."
Ask: Is the second sentence showing a result, a contrast, something happening at the same time, or a specific instance of the first idea?
Recognize what the second sentence is doing
The second sentence talks about the kangaroo rat, which is one kind of desert animal, and describes how it emerges only at night.
This means the second sentence is giving one particular animal that uses the strategy described in the first sentence. That is a specific example of the general statement.
Recall what each transition usually signals
Match each transition to the type of relationship it shows:
- "Thus," usually introduces a result or conclusion (like saying "so" or "therefore").
- "Nevertheless," usually introduces a contrast (something that goes against what you might expect).
- "Meanwhile," usually shows two things happening at the same time.
- "For example," usually introduces a specific illustration or instance of a general idea.
Keep in mind from Step 2 that the second sentence is acting as a specific instance of the first.
Choose the transition that matches an example relationship
Since the second sentence presents the kangaroo rat as one specific desert animal that behaves in the way just described, the logical transition is the one that introduces an illustration of the general point.
Therefore, the best choice is D) For example,.