Some researchers treat the absence of a confirmed Norse site beyond L'Anse aux Meadows as evidence that Norse travelers went no farther. Preservation and survey limits, however, make that absence compatible with farther travel. Yet compatibility is not confirmation: the same archaeological record is also compatible with no farther travel. A researcher seeking to avoid favoring either account might therefore assign the two accounts equal probabilities. ______ evidentiary compatibility indicates only that the record does not rule out an account; it provides no basis for estimating that account's probability.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For a difficult transition question, distinguish the claim being made from the evidence that supposedly supports it. Determine whether the sentence after the blank endorses, restates, illustrates, or challenges the preceding inference, and then select the transition that expresses that exact relationship.
Hints
Separate two concepts
Consider whether evidence that fails to rule out an account necessarily indicates how likely that account is.
Examine the proposed assignment
Determine whether the final sentence supports the researcher's equal-probability assignment or questions its evidentiary basis.
Test each relationship
Ask whether the final sentence restates, results from, contrasts with, or exemplifies the preceding claim.
Step-by-step Explanation
Track what the evidence establishes
The absence of another confirmed site is compatible with both farther travel and no farther travel. Thus, the archaeological record does not rule out either account.
Identify the proposed inference
The fourth sentence describes a researcher assigning equal probabilities to the two accounts as a way to avoid favoring either one.
Compare that inference with the final claim
The final sentence explains that compatibility supplies no basis for estimating probability. It therefore challenges, rather than restates or follows from, the proposed equal-probability assignment.
Select the transition
Because the final sentence introduces a qualification that conflicts with the inference in the preceding sentence, “However,” expresses the required relationship.