Question 139·Easy·Transitions
Community leaders have spent months educating residents about the need to conserve water during the ongoing drought. ______ the city has distributed free low-flow showerheads and offered rebates for drought-tolerant landscaping.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always start by ignoring the choices and deciding, in your own words, how the second idea relates to the first (example, result, contrast, cause, clarification, etc.). Then, look at each option and eliminate any that signal the wrong relationship for that context, even if they sound grammatically smooth. Pay close attention to subtle differences—words like “instead,” “similarly,” “therefore,” and “for example” each signal specific types of connections, and only the one that matches the actual logic of the sentences should be chosen.
Hints
Connect the two sentences first
Ignore the answer choices and read the two sentences together. How does the second sentence relate to the first in meaning?
Classify the relationship
Ask yourself: Is the second sentence opposing the first idea, giving another similar idea, giving an example of something, or describing actions that follow from the situation in the first sentence?
Eliminate mismatched relationships
Cross out any transition that would incorrectly suggest contrast or just similarity between the sentences. Focus on the one that best fits how the city’s actions relate to the need to conserve water.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what each sentence is saying
First sentence: Community leaders have been educating residents about the need to conserve water during a drought.
Second sentence: The city has distributed free low-flow showerheads and offered rebates for drought-tolerant landscaping.
So the first focuses on the need and education, and the second describes actions or programs related to that situation.
Decide how the ideas are logically connected
Ask: What is the relationship between these two ideas?
- Is the second sentence an example of the first?
- Is it a result or outcome of the situation in the first?
- Is it an alternative to the first?
- Is it something similar to the first?
Here, the city’s actions (showerheads and rebates) are responses to the need to conserve water described earlier. They are not an opposite or unrelated idea; they fit with and follow from the situation in sentence one.
Review the types of transitions in the answer choices
Now think about what kind of relationship each option usually signals:
- “For example,” introduces a specific example of something just mentioned.
- “Instead,” introduces a contrast or an alternative.
- “Similarly,” shows that two things are alike.
- One remaining option signals a result or outcome of what came before.
We want the option that matches the relationship you identified in Step 2.
Match the best transition to the sentence pair
The second sentence describes what the city is doing as a result of the need to conserve water during the drought. That is a cause-and-effect relationship.
The transition that clearly shows this result is “Consequently,”, so the correct answer is B) Consequently,.