Question 123·Hard·Transitions
Anthropologist Robin Dunbar’s research proposes that human social circles are limited to about 150 meaningful relationships, a figure now known as “Dunbar’s number.” Some scholars have questioned its applicability in the era of social media, where individuals may claim thousands of online “friends.” ______, recent analyses of digital interaction patterns suggest that, even online, people actively maintain communication with only a few hundred contacts at most.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read at least one full sentence before and after the blank, then briefly label the relationship in your own words (e.g., “support,” “contrast,” “cause,” “time”). Next, classify each answer choice by the kind of connection it usually signals and quickly eliminate any whose function does not match your label. Be careful not to choose a word just because it “sounds academic”; instead, always check that the logical relationship it implies fits the ideas on both sides of the blank.
Hints
Look at the big picture
Read the first sentence and the clause after the blank together. Does the second part disagree with the idea of a limit on relationships, explain a result of something, happen at the same time, or give evidence that a limit still exists?
Focus on scholars vs. analyses
“Some scholars have questioned its applicability” shows doubt. Ask: Do the “recent analyses” support the scholars’ doubts, oppose their doubts, or clarify what is actually happening with online relationships?
Classify the options by function
Think about which option usually shows contrast, which shows cause-and-effect, which shows time/simultaneity, and which introduces a reinforcing fact. Then pick the one whose function matches the relationship between the scholars’ doubts and the digital analyses.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the ideas being connected
First sentence: Dunbar’s research says humans have a limit of about 150 meaningful relationships.
Next: Some scholars doubt this in the age of social media, where people can have thousands of online “friends.”
Then: The clause after the blank says that recent digital analyses show people still actively maintain communication with only a few hundred contacts at most. This new information supports the idea that there is still a practical limit on relationships.
Identify the logical relationship
The structure is:
- Some scholars question Dunbar’s number.
- [Transition] recent analyses show that even online, people maintain communication with only a few hundred contacts.
So the new information is not opposing Dunbar’s idea; it is providing factual evidence that, despite social media, there is still a limit on active relationships. That means the relationship is supporting or reinforcing the idea of limits, not showing the opposite, not a result, and not just something happening at the same time.
Classify each transition type
Now think about what type of connection each option usually makes:
- One option signals contrast or the opposite.
- One signals cause and effect (a result).
- One signals events happening at the same time.
- One signals adding a clarifying or reinforcing fact.
The sentence needs the last type: a phrase that introduces a fact that backs up or strengthens the idea that a limit on relationships still exists, even online.
Match the correct transition to the relationship
Because the clause after the blank gives concrete evidence that supports and strengthens the idea that humans have limits on meaningful relationships (and effectively answers the scholars’ doubts), the best transition is “In fact,”. It introduces this supporting evidence, while the other options suggest contrast, cause-and-effect, or mere simultaneity, which do not fit the logic of the passage.