Question 68·Medium·Transitions
Rising sea levels threaten many coastal communities around the globe. _____ engineers and urban planners are developing innovative strategies, such as floating neighborhoods and movable flood barriers, to mitigate the risk.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, first ignore the answer choices and clearly state in your own words how the sentence before the blank relates to the sentence after it (cause→effect, contrast, example, addition, or similarity). Then eliminate any option whose usual meaning (contrast, example, similarity, etc.) does not match that relationship, even if the sentence still seems to “sound okay.” Finally, pick the remaining choice that most precisely captures the logical connection you identified.
Hints
Summarize each sentence in a few words
Ask yourself: Is the first sentence describing a problem, a solution, an example, or a comparison? Then do the same for the second sentence.
Describe the relationship between the two sentences
Once you know what each sentence is doing, decide whether the second sentence is showing a cause, an effect, an example, an alternative, or something similar to the first.
Match the relationship to the type of transition
Think about what each transition word generally does: one shows contrast, one shows similarity, one gives examples, and one shows that something happens as a result of something else. Which fits the relationship you found?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what each sentence is doing
Read the two sentences and ask: what is the job of each one?
- First sentence: "Rising sea levels threaten many coastal communities around the globe." → This introduces a problem or cause.
- Second sentence: "_____ engineers and urban planners are developing innovative strategies... to mitigate the risk." → This shows what people are doing in response to that problem.
So the relationship between the two sentences is that the second is a reaction to, or result of, the first.
Decide what kind of transition you need
Because the first sentence presents a threat and the second shows actions taken because of that threat, you want a transition that shows result or effect ("as a result," "because of this," etc.).
The transition should not show contrast, give an example of the threat itself, or show similarity; it should connect cause (threat) to effect/response (strategies).
Check each answer choice’s meaning against that relationship
Now match each option to the relationship you identified:
- "Instead," shows contrast or replacement: doing one thing rather than another.
- "For example," introduces a specific example of a general idea already stated.
- "Likewise," means in a similar way, comparing the current idea to a previous similar one.
- One option expresses cause-and-effect (similar to "as a result").
Only the option that shows cause-and-effect will correctly connect the problem in the first sentence to the response in the second.
Choose the transition that shows cause and effect
The only choice that clearly signals that the actions of engineers and urban planners are a result of the threat from rising sea levels is "Consequently,".
So the completed sentence is:
"Rising sea levels threaten many coastal communities around the globe. Consequently, engineers and urban planners are developing innovative strategies, such as floating neighborhoods and movable flood barriers, to mitigate the risk."