Question 234·Hard·Transitions
To lower barriers for first-time visitors, the museum introduced a "pay-what-you-can" ticket window on weekends. ______ the addition of a mandatory $5 processing fee on every online reservation raised the average cost per visitor.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first ignore the answer choices and read the sentence(s) around the blank to decide on your own how the ideas relate: cause/effect, contrast, example, addition, or similarity. Then quickly label each answer choice by its usual function (for example, "consequently" = result, "for instance" = example, etc.) and eliminate any whose function does not match the relationship you identified. Finally, plug the remaining option(s) back into the sentence to confirm they make logical and grammatical sense in context.
Hints
Check the direction of each idea
Ask yourself whether the second part of the sentence supports the museum's goal of lowering barriers, or works against it.
Identify the relationship, not just the words
Decide if the second clause is a result of the first, an example of the first, something similar to the first, or something that goes in the opposite direction.
Sort the answer choices by function
Think about which option normally introduces a result, which introduces an example, which shows similarity, and which connects two ideas that do not line up with each other.
Test each choice in the sentence
Mentally plug each transition into the blank and ask: Does this correctly describe how the processing fee relates to the museum's attempt to lower barriers?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what each part of the sentence is saying
Read the two ideas separately:
- First idea: The museum introduced a "pay-what-you-can" ticket window to lower barriers for first-time visitors.
- Second idea: A mandatory $5 processing fee on online reservations raised the average cost per visitor.
So the first part is about making it easier/cheaper to visit; the second part is about something that made visits more expensive.
Decide how the two ideas relate
Ask: Does the second idea
- give a result of the first?
- give an example of the first?
- show something similar to the first?
- or go in the opposite direction / undercut it?
Here, the museum tried to lower barriers, but the fee raised the average cost. The second idea goes against or undercuts the first.
Match each answer choice to the type of relationship it signals
Now sort the choices by the relationships they usually show:
- "Consequently," usually shows a result or effect.
- "For instance," introduces an example.
- "Likewise," shows similarity.
- One option signals contrast between what was expected or intended and what actually happened.
We need the choice that matches the opposing relationship you identified in Step 2.
Choose the transition that shows the needed contrast
Because the second clause undercuts the goal of the first (lowering barriers vs. raising the average cost), the transition must show that contrast. The only choice that does this is D) Even so, which means that despite the previous point, something different or opposing is true.