Question 132·Hard·Transitions
In eighteenth-century Europe, coffeehouses served as lively hubs for intellectual exchange, attracting philosophers, scientists, and political thinkers. ______ in Ottoman Istanbul, an imperial decree restricted public discussions in coffeehouses, limiting them primarily to leisurely entertainment.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read the sentence before and after the blank and first decide the relationship between them: similarity, contrast, cause-and-effect, example, or sequence. Make a quick prediction in your own words (e.g., "this is the opposite"), then choose the transition that matches that relationship. Eliminate choices that signal the wrong relationship—even if they seem grammatically fine—because on the SAT, the logic of the connection matters more than the individual word’s difficulty.
Hints
Check the overall direction of ideas
Read the full text (before and after the blank) and decide: is the second part describing something similar, opposite, or caused by the first part?
Compare how coffeehouses functioned
Focus on what coffeehouses did in eighteenth-century Europe versus in Ottoman Istanbul. Are their roles the same or different?
Eliminate wrong relationship types
Look at the answer choices and think: which ones show similarity, which ones show cause-and-effect, and which one shows a difference?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the first sentence
Read the first sentence: it says that in eighteenth-century Europe, coffeehouses were "lively hubs for intellectual exchange," attracting "philosophers, scientists, and political thinkers."
This gives a positive picture of coffeehouses as places where serious, open discussion and ideas were encouraged.
Understand the second sentence
Now read the second part: in Ottoman Istanbul, "an imperial decree restricted public discussions in coffeehouses, limiting them primarily to leisurely entertainment."
This shows that instead of being open places for intellectual discussion, these coffeehouses had conversations restricted and were used mostly for entertainment, not serious debate.
Decide the logical relationship
Compare the two ideas:
- Europe: open, lively intellectual discussion is encouraged.
- Ottoman Istanbul: intellectual discussion is restricted, and focus is on entertainment.
These two situations are opposites in terms of how free and intellectual the coffeehouse discussions are. So the relationship between the sentences is contrast, not similarity and not cause-and-effect.
Match the relationship to the answer choices
Now look at the answer options:
- "Similarly," shows that two things are alike.
- "Consequently," and "For that reason," show cause-and-effect.
- "By contrast," shows an opposite or different situation.
Since the second sentence presents a situation that is different from and almost the opposite of the first, the best transition is "By contrast,".