Question 56·Medium·Transitions
The desert-dwelling kangaroo rat can metabolize water from the seeds it eats, eliminating the need to drink standing water. Its kidneys concentrate waste into very small volumes; _____ the animal conserves moisture that would otherwise be lost.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
On SAT transition questions, always read the full sentence (or pair of sentences) and first label the relationship in simple terms: addition, contrast, cause/effect, example, or time. Then quickly assign each answer choice to one of those relationship types and eliminate any that don’t match what the passage is doing. Avoid picking a word just because it “sounds” smooth—its meaning must exactly fit the logical connection between the ideas.
Hints
Read the whole sentence together
Mentally read the sentence without the blank: how does the idea about the kidneys relate to the idea about conserving moisture?
Name the relationship in your own words
Ask yourself: Is the second part contrasting the first, illustrating it with an example, describing something that happens at the same time, or telling what happens because of the first?
Match meaning, not sound
Think about what each option usually does in a sentence (contrast, example, timing, or outcome). Pick the one whose usual job fits the relationship you identified in the sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the ideas before and after the blank
First clause: the kangaroo rat’s kidneys concentrate waste into very small volumes. Second clause: the animal conserves moisture that would otherwise be lost.
So the sentence is describing what the kidneys do and then what happens because of that.
Identify the logical relationship
Ask: How are these two ideas connected logically?
- Does the second part oppose the first?
- Does it give an example of the first?
- Does it describe something happening at the same time?
- Or does it state what happens as a result of the first?
Here, conserving moisture is an outcome of concentrating waste. That is a cause-and-effect relationship.
Match each option to its type of relationship
Now connect each choice to the type of relationship it usually shows:
- “Nevertheless,” shows contrast (like “however”).
- “For example,” introduces an example.
- “Meanwhile,” shows that something happens at the same time as something else.
- One remaining option is used to show that one thing is the result of another.
Only the option that signals a result will correctly connect the kidneys’ action to the conservation of moisture.
Choose the transition that shows a result
Since the sentence describes that because the kidneys concentrate waste, as a result the animal conserves moisture, the best transition is “Consequently,” which expresses a cause-and-effect relationship. So the correct answer is A) Consequently,.