Question 206·Medium·Transitions
Artists often use charcoal for preliminary sketches because it is easy to erase and manipulate. ______ charcoal can produce deep, velvety blacks, and many artists incorporate it into their finished works as well.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first read the sentences on both sides of the blank and decide the relationship before looking at the choices: is it addition, contrast, cause/effect, example, or emphasis? Then quickly label each option by its function (e.g., cause/effect for "As a result," similarity for "Likewise,") and eliminate any whose function does not match the relationship you identified. This prevents you from being tricked by choices that "sound nice" but do not express the correct logical connection.
Hints
Look at the big picture
Read both sentences together and think about how the second sentence relates to the first: is it continuing the same idea, giving a result, giving an example, or doing something else?
Check whether one idea leads to another
Ask yourself: Does the fact that charcoal is easy to erase and manipulate cause it to produce deep, velvety blacks, or is the second sentence adding a different kind of information?
Think about expectation vs reality
From the first sentence, you might expect charcoal to be used mainly for temporary sketches. Does the second sentence support that expectation or challenge it? Choose the transition that fits that kind of relationship.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the relationship between the two sentences
Read the sentences together without the blank:
Artists often use charcoal for preliminary sketches because it is easy to erase and manipulate. ______ charcoal can produce deep, velvety blacks, and many artists incorporate it into their finished works as well.
The first sentence explains why charcoal is used for preliminary sketches (because it’s easy to erase). The second sentence adds that charcoal can also create deep blacks and is used in finished works.
Decide what kind of connection the second sentence makes
Ask: Is the second sentence showing a result, a similar use, an example, or something that feels unexpected compared to the first?
- The first idea: charcoal is used for rough, erasable sketches.
- The second idea: charcoal can also make strong, permanent-looking blacks in finished works.
This second idea does not follow as a result of being easy to erase, and it is not just a specific example of preliminary sketches; instead, it adds an additional, somewhat surprising use.
Match or eliminate transition types
Now look at what types of relationships the answer choices normally show:
- "As a result," shows cause and effect.
- "For example," introduces a specific example.
The second sentence is not a direct result of the first (being easy to erase does not cause deep blacks), and it is not an example of preliminary sketches. So you can rule out the choices that show cause/effect or example, and focus on transitions that might connect ideas in a different way.
Choose the transition that fits the contrast
You are left with transitions that either suggest similarity or an unexpected difference between the two sentences.
The second sentence does not repeat or mirror the first; instead, it contrasts with the idea of charcoal as only a preliminary, erasable tool by showing that it is also used for rich, finished work. That means the best transition is the one that signals this contrast: "However," (Choice A).