Question 185·Medium·Transitions
Researchers once believed that urban squirrels benefited from a limitless supply of food discarded by humans. ______ recent studies indicate that these animals experience nutritional deficiencies, suggesting that human leftovers are not a reliable diet.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first read the sentence (or sentences) on both sides of the blank without looking at the answer choices and decide the relationship in your own words: is it contrast, example, addition, cause/effect, or clarification? Then quickly label each option by the type of transition it signals and eliminate those that don’t match the relationship you identified. This prevents you from being distracted by words that sound good but don’t fit the logic of the sentence.
Hints
Read both parts of the sentence carefully
Cover the blank and read the sentence before and after it. Ask yourself: does the second part support, explain, or go against the first part?
Decide the relationship: support, example, result, or contrast?
Think about whether the new studies confirm the old belief about squirrels, give an example of it, show a result of it, or challenge it.
Match each option to a relationship type
Label each choice in your head as: example, similarity, cause/effect, or contrast. Then choose the one whose type matches the relationship you found between the two parts of the sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what each part of the sentence is saying
Read the sentence in two parts:
- Part 1: "Researchers once believed that urban squirrels benefited from a limitless supply of food discarded by humans."
- This describes an older belief that human leftovers were good for squirrels.
- Part 2: "recent studies indicate that these animals experience nutritional deficiencies, suggesting that human leftovers are not a reliable diet."
- This gives new research that says squirrels are actually not getting the nutrients they need, so the old belief was wrong.
So the sentence moves from an old idea to new information that goes against it.
Identify the logical relationship between the two parts
Now ask: how does the second part relate to the first?
- The first part: squirrels benefited from human food.
- The second part: squirrels have nutritional deficiencies and leftovers are not reliable.
The new studies are not giving an example of the old belief, not extending it, and not a result of it; they are contradicting or correcting the earlier belief. That means the relationship is one of contrast between past belief and current evidence.
Match each answer choice to its type of transition
Now classify the kind of relationship each option usually signals:
- "For example," introduces an illustration of the previous idea.
- "Similarly," shows that the next idea is like the previous one.
- "Consequently," introduces a result or outcome of what came before.
- One remaining choice (not yet named here) is a contrast word, used when what follows goes against or differs from what was just stated.
Because we already decided the sentence needs a contrast transition, we should pick the option that has that function.
Choose the transition that shows contrast
Only "However," is a contrast transition, clearly showing that recent studies oppose the earlier belief.
So the correct answer is B) However,.