Question 45·Hard·Transitions
The early field notes of linguist Víctor Delgado describe Yanga, a critically endangered language, as lacking any productive mechanism for creating new vocabulary. ______ subsequent recordings by community elders reveal a lively pattern of coinages derived from Spanish loanwords, suggesting that Yanga’s morphological resources are more flexible than previously believed.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first ignore the answer choices and read the sentences around the blank to decide the relationship: are they showing addition, contrast, cause/effect, or an example? Summarize each idea in simple words, determine whether the second supports, opposes, results from, or illustrates the first, and only then look at the choices and eliminate any transitions that signal the wrong type of relationship—even if they sound smooth—choosing the one whose logical function (not just its sound) best matches what the sentences are doing.
Hints
Identify what the first sentence claims
Focus on the description in the first sentence: what does Delgado say about Yanga’s ability to create new vocabulary?
Identify what the next clause claims
Look carefully at the part after the blank. Does it say Yanga behaves the same way as in the first sentence, or does it present a different picture?
Figure out the relationship type
Ask yourself: does the second idea support, result from, add to, contradict, or give an example of the first idea? Once you know the relationship, match it to the type of transition in the options.
Test each transition in context
Silently read the sentence with each option in the blank and see which one best describes the logical connection you identified in the previous hint.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the first idea
Read the first sentence: it says that Delgado’s early notes describe Yanga as lacking any productive mechanism for creating new vocabulary. This means, according to the early notes, the language supposedly cannot easily make new words.
Understand the second idea
Now look at the clause after the blank: subsequent recordings by community elders reveal a lively pattern of coinages derived from Spanish loanwords, suggesting that Yanga’s morphological resources are more flexible than previously believed.
This says that later evidence shows Yanga does actively create new words and that its resources are more flexible than people used to think.
Decide the relationship between the two ideas
Compare the two parts:
- First: Yanga is described as lacking a way to make new words.
- Second: New evidence shows a lively pattern of creating new words, and more flexibility.
These two claims disagree with each other: the second part challenges or opposes the conclusion of the first part. So the transition should show a contrast or reversal between earlier notes and later evidence.
Match the transition to that relationship
Check each option against the contrast you identified:
- "Therefore," suggests a result or conclusion from the first idea, not a contradiction.
- "Moreover," adds similar information, not opposite information.
- "For example," introduces an illustration of the same idea, not an idea that opposes it.
- "Conversely," signals an opposing or contrasting idea, which fits the way the later recordings challenge the earlier description.
So the choice that best completes the sentence is C) Conversely,.