Question 19·Easy·Transitions
Researchers have identified several strategies for improving sleep quality. One option is limiting screen time before bed. ______ incorporating consistent bedtimes can reinforce the body's natural rhythms.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read at least one sentence before and after the blank and decide the logical relationship between them first (addition/similarity, contrast, cause-and-effect, example, sequence, etc.) before looking at the choices. Once you know the relationship, quickly label each option by the type of connection it signals, then eliminate any that do not match the relationship you identified, even if they sound smooth on their own; the correct answer must fit the logic, not just the grammar.
Hints
Look at the overall purpose
Notice that the passage begins by saying there are "several strategies for improving sleep quality." Ask yourself how the second sentence fits into that idea.
Compare the two specific strategies
The first specific strategy is "limiting screen time before bed." The second is "incorporating consistent bedtimes." Are these ideas opposing, causing one another, or both helping in the same general way?
Match the relationship to a transition type
Decide whether the second sentence is giving a result, offering a contrast, presenting a different choice, or adding another strategy that goes in the same direction as the first. Then look for the transition that best signals that relationship.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what each sentence is saying
Read the two sentences together:
- First: "Researchers have identified several strategies for improving sleep quality. One option is limiting screen time before bed."
- Second: "_____ incorporating consistent bedtimes can reinforce the body's natural rhythms."
The passage is listing strategies to improve sleep: first strategy = limiting screen time; second strategy = having consistent bedtimes.
Decide how the ideas are related
Ask: Is the second sentence
- giving a result of the first?
- contrasting with the first?
- offering a replacement for the first?
- or adding another, similar strategy?
Here, "incorporating consistent bedtimes" is another strategy in the same list. It does not oppose the first strategy and is not caused by it; it simply adds another way to help sleep.
Match the relationship to the transition types
Now think about what kind of relationship each type of transition usually shows:
- A word that introduces a different choice or alternative suggests you might do one thing instead of another.
- A word that introduces a similar or parallel idea shows that the second idea is like the first and supports it.
- A word that introduces a result shows cause-and-effect.
- A word that introduces contrast shows an unexpected or opposing idea.
We need the one that introduces a similar, supporting example.
Test each option and choose the one that fits
Plug in each option:
- "Alternatively, incorporating consistent bedtimes..." implies choosing this instead of limiting screen time, which is off because the passage is listing several strategies that can all help.
- "Therefore, incorporating consistent bedtimes..." would mean consistent bedtimes are a result of limiting screen time, which is not stated.
- "Despite this, incorporating consistent bedtimes..." suggests a contrast, as if consistent bedtimes go against the first idea, which is wrong.
- "Similarly, incorporating consistent bedtimes..." correctly shows that consistent bedtimes are another, similar strategy for improving sleep.
So the best transition is "Similarly,".