Question 103·Easy·Transitions
The community garden faced a severe lack of volunteers last spring; many plots became overgrown with weeds. ______ the garden organizers launched a social media campaign that doubled volunteer sign-ups within two weeks.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read the full sentence before and after the blank, then label the relationship between the ideas (cause-and-effect, contrast, example, addition, alternative, etc.). Next, quickly match each answer choice to the type of relationship it normally signals and eliminate any that don’t fit the logical connection you identified, rather than picking what “sounds good.” This targeted approach is fast and prevents you from being tricked by transitions that are grammatically fine but logically wrong.
Hints
Restate the two sentences
Put the two sentences into your own words. What problem is described first, and what happens afterward?
Think about the relationship
Does the second sentence oppose the first, give an example from the first, suggest another option, or show what happens after the situation in the first sentence?
Match each option to a relationship type
For each transition (Nevertheless, For instance, Alternatively, and the remaining choice), decide whether it shows contrast, example, another option, or something else, and see which one fits the relationship you identified.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation in the passage
First, read both sentences and summarize them in your own words.
- Sentence 1: The garden had too few volunteers, so many plots got overgrown.
- Sentence 2 (after the blank): The organizers launched a social media campaign, and this campaign doubled volunteer sign-ups.
So the structure is: problem → response/solution.
Identify the logical relationship
Ask: How does the second sentence relate to the first?
- Is it contrasting with the first idea?
- Is it giving an example of something in the first sentence?
- Is it presenting a different option from something mentioned before?
- Or is it showing what happened because of the situation in the first sentence?
Here, the organizers’ campaign is clearly a response to the problem; it happens because the garden lacked volunteers and plots were overgrown.
Match each transition type to the options
Now connect each answer choice to the type of relationship it usually signals:
- "Nevertheless," usually shows contrast (something unexpected compared to what came before).
- "For instance," introduces an example of a general idea.
- "Alternatively," introduces a different option or choice.
- One option shows a cause-and-effect relationship (what happened because of what was described earlier).
Given that the organizers’ action is a direct response to the problem, we need the cause-and-effect transition.
Select the transition that shows cause and effect
The only choice that clearly indicates a cause-and-effect relationship—showing that the campaign happened because of the earlier problem—is D) As a result,.