Question 55·Easy·Transitions
Dr. Maya Patel spent years researching how urban gardening can improve community health and foster local biodiversity. ______ she launched a nonprofit that installs rooftop greenhouses across the city.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always read the sentence (or sentences) before and after the blank and first decide what relationship they show: cause-and-effect, contrast, example, addition, time order, or simultaneity. Once you’ve named the relationship in your own words, go through the answer choices and eliminate any transitions that signal a different type of relationship. Be careful not to pick a word just because it “sounds good”; it must clearly match the exact logical connection between the ideas.
Hints
Look at the overall story
Read the whole sentence and think about what is happening first and what is happening second. Is the second action opposing the first, happening at the same time, giving an example, or happening because of it?
Focus on the sequence of ideas
Notice that Dr. Patel "spent years researching" and then "launched a nonprofit." What kind of logical connection usually links long research and a later action based on that research?
Test the transition types
For each choice, ask yourself: Does it show contrast, same-time events, an example, or a consequence? Then see which type best matches how the two parts of the sentence relate.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the first part of the sentence
Read the first clause: "Dr. Maya Patel spent years researching how urban gardening can improve community health and foster local biodiversity."
This tells us about her long-term research and its potential benefits. It sets up background information and a reason or motivation for what might come next.
Understand the second part of the sentence
Now read the second part: "she launched a nonprofit that installs rooftop greenhouses across the city."
This describes an action she took: starting a nonprofit organization. It sounds like something she did after gaining knowledge from her research.
Identify the relationship between the two parts
Ask: How are these two ideas connected?
- She first spent years researching the benefits of urban gardening.
- Then she launched a nonprofit that puts that knowledge into practice.
So the second action seems to happen because of or in response to the first. That is a cause-and-effect or result relationship, not a contrast, not something happening at the same time, and not just an example.
Match the relationship to the best transition
Check each option against the cause-and-effect relationship you identified:
- A) "Instead," suggests an alternative or opposite action, which does not fit.
- B) "Meanwhile," suggests two things happening at the same time, which is not the point here.
- C) "For example," introduces an example, but the second clause is not an example of a general category; it is the outcome of the research.
- D) "As a result," clearly shows that the nonprofit was started because of the years of research.
Therefore, the correct answer is D) As a result,.