Question 160·Easy·Transitions
Many city governments have launched bike-share programs to reduce traffic. ______ ridership statistics suggest these programs have been successful, overall car congestion has not decreased as expected.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read at least one sentence before and after the blank to determine the logical relationship (contrast, cause-and-effect, example, addition, sequence, etc.). Once you know the relationship, quickly classify each answer choice by its usual function and eliminate any that don’t match the logic or that create grammatical problems like comma splices. Choose the option that both fits the meaning (such as showing contrast here) and produces a clear, correct sentence structure.
Hints
Check how the second sentence is built
Look carefully at the comma after "successful" and the phrase that follows it. Are the two parts of the second sentence agreeing with each other or setting up some kind of contrast?
Think about expectation vs. reality
The programs were launched to reduce traffic, and the ridership statistics look good. But what actually happened to overall car congestion? Is that result what you would expect?
Classify the transitions by their usual use
Ask yourself: which options typically show result, which show similarity, which show addition, and which can introduce a contrasting idea? Eliminate any that do not fit the contrast between the two clauses.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the relationship between the ideas
Read both sentences together:
"Many city governments have launched bike-share programs to reduce traffic. ______ ridership statistics suggest these programs have been successful, overall car congestion has not decreased as expected."
The key contrast is between:
- ridership statistics showing the programs look successful
- overall car congestion not decreasing as expected
So the second sentence is showing an unexpected or contrasting result, not a straightforward continuation or cause-effect.
Notice the sentence structure
In the second sentence, there are two clauses:
- "______ ridership statistics suggest these programs have been successful"
- "overall car congestion has not decreased as expected"
We need a word in the blank that makes the first clause work smoothly with the second. The comma after "successful" suggests the first clause should be dependent (cannot stand alone as a full sentence) and the second clause should be independent (a complete sentence).
Match the logical relationship to transition types
Now think about what kind of transition fits both meaning and structure:
- We do not want a word that shows simple result, similarity, or addition, because the second clause contrasts with the first.
- We do want a word that shows contrast between expectation and reality and can turn the first clause into a dependent clause that naturally leads into the independent clause about congestion not decreasing.
Look over the choices and identify which type of relationship each one usually signals: result, similarity, addition, or contrast.
Choose the word that shows contrast and fixes the grammar
Only "Although" both:
- Signals a contrast between the apparent success (ridership going up) and the disappointing outcome (congestion not falling), and
- Turns "Although ridership statistics suggest these programs have been successful" into a dependent clause, which correctly connects with the independent clause "overall car congestion has not decreased as expected."
So the correct answer is A) Although.