Question 124·Easy·Transitions
The company started offering free online tutorials to attract more customers. ______ the strategy succeeded: website traffic doubled within a month.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read the sentence before and after the blank together and first decide the relationship in your own words (addition, contrast, cause-and-effect, example, etc.). Once you know the relationship, quickly test each option’s basic meaning against that relationship rather than going by what “sounds good.” Eliminate any choice that would make the sentences contradict each other or change the meaning, and choose the one transition whose meaning clearly matches how the second sentence relates to the first.
Hints
Read both sentences together
Cover the blank and read both sentences in order. Think about what the second sentence is doing in relation to the first.
Classify the relationship
Ask yourself: Is the second sentence showing a contrast, giving a similar idea, giving an example, or describing what happened afterward?
Check each transition’s basic meaning
For each option, think of a simple meaning (like “in the same way,” “nevertheless,” or “this happened afterward”) and see which one makes the most logical sense between the two sentences.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what each sentence is saying
Paraphrase the two sentences:
- First sentence: The company began offering free online tutorials to bring in more customers.
- Second sentence: This plan worked; website traffic doubled within a month.
So the first sentence is about a strategy, and the second is about what happened afterward.
Identify the relationship between the sentences
Ask: How does the second sentence relate to the first?
- It is not another similar strategy.
- It is not a contrast or an opposing idea.
- It is not an example of a general statement.
- Instead, it shows what happened because the company offered free tutorials — it gives the outcome of that strategy.
Match the relationship to the best transition
Now match that outcome-type relationship to the choices:
- "Similarly," means in the same way.
- "Still," means nevertheless or despite that.
- "For example," introduces an instance of a general idea.
- "As a result," shows that what comes next happened because of what was just mentioned.
Because the second sentence is the outcome of the strategy in the first, "As a result," is the correct choice.