Question 244·Easy·Transitions
Honeybee colonies are vulnerable to starvation early in the year, when few flowers are in bloom. ______ beekeepers often place feeders filled with sugar syrup inside the hives to ensure the bees have enough food.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first ignore the answer choices and decide how the two sentences or clauses relate: are you seeing a cause and effect, an example, a contrast, or just a time or sequence relationship? Put the ideas into your own words as one thought to hear the connection. Then eliminate any choices whose meaning (example, contrast, time, etc.) does not match that relationship. Finally, if more than one seems close, plug each remaining option into the sentence and choose the one that creates the clearest, most logical connection.
Hints
Identify the role of each sentence
Ask yourself: does the second sentence show a cause, an effect, a contrast, or just another thing happening at the same time as the first sentence?
Restate the connection in your own words
Try to say the two sentences in your own words as one thought: "Because bees face a certain problem early in the year, beekeepers ___." What kind of link are you hearing between the problem and the action?
Test each type of transition idea
Think about what each kind of transition would do: one introduces an example, one indicates two things happening at the same time, one shows a contrast, and one shows a resulting action. Which type best matches how beekeepers’ action relates to the bees’ vulnerability?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the first sentence is saying
Read the first sentence: "Honeybee colonies are vulnerable to starvation early in the year, when few flowers are in bloom." This introduces a problem: early in the year there are few flowers, so bees might not get enough food and can starve.
Understand what the second sentence is saying
Now look at the second sentence without the transition: "_____ beekeepers often place feeders filled with sugar syrup inside the hives to ensure the bees have enough food." This tells you what beekeepers do: they place feeders with sugar syrup so the bees have enough to eat. That is clearly a response or solution to the problem in the first sentence.
Decide the relationship between the two sentences
Put the ideas together: bees are at risk of starvation early in the year, and because of that problem, beekeepers place sugar feeders to prevent starvation. So the second sentence shows what people do in response to the issue described in the first sentence. The relationship is not contrast, not just time, and not an example—it's a resulting action.
Match the relationship to the correct transition
Check each answer:
- "For example," would introduce an example of something from the first sentence, but the beekeepers’ action is not an example of the bees’ vulnerability.
- "Meanwhile," suggests something happening at the same time but in a different situation, which doesn’t fit here.
- "Nevertheless," introduces a contrast (something surprising or opposite), but the beekeepers’ response actually fits the problem, not the opposite of it.
- The remaining option shows that the second sentence is a result or consequence of the first.
The correct answer is C) Therefore,.