Question 99·Hard·Transitions
Archaeologists have recently reevaluated a collection of clay tokens from ancient Mesopotamia. ______ they were once dismissed as children's playthings, a new analysis of wear patterns suggests they functioned as early accounting tools.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For transition questions, always start by ignoring the answer choices and instead read the sentence (or sentences) around the blank to decide how the ideas are related: are they in contrast, cause and effect, example, or addition/similarity? Once you’ve clearly labeled that relationship, quickly sort the choices by type (contrast words, cause/effect words, example words, etc.) and eliminate any that don’t match. This prevents you from being distracted by words that sound good on their own but don’t fit the logic of the passage.
Hints
Look at both sides of the blank
Read the whole sentence, especially the clause right after the blank ("they were once dismissed as children's playthings") and the clause that follows it ("a new analysis... suggests they functioned as early accounting tools"). Think about how these two ideas relate.
Decide if the ideas agree or disagree
Ask yourself: Does the new analysis support the idea that the tokens were playthings, or does it challenge that idea? Are the two clauses showing similarity, contrast, cause/effect, or an example?
Match the relationship to a transition type
Once you know the relationship (contrast, cause/effect, similarity, or example), look at the answer choices and decide which type of transition each one expresses. Eliminate any that do not match the relationship you identified.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the relationship between the two ideas
Read the sentence without the blank:
"Archaeologists have recently reevaluated a collection of clay tokens from ancient Mesopotamia. ______ they were once dismissed as children's playthings, a new analysis of wear patterns suggests they functioned as early accounting tools."
The first idea after the blank is that the tokens "were once dismissed as children's playthings." The second idea is that new analysis suggests they "functioned as early accounting tools." These two ideas disagree: being playthings vs. being accounting tools is a contrast.
Decide what kind of transition is needed
Ask: Is the second idea a result, a similarity, an example, or a contrast to the first idea?
- It is not a result: the new analysis does not happen because they were dismissed as toys.
- It is not a similarity: the new conclusion is very different from the old view.
- It is not an example of dismissing them as toys; it actually overturns that view.
So we need a word that connects two contrasting ideas: a former belief vs. a new, different conclusion.
Match each option to the needed relationship
Now compare each choice to the contrast you found:
- "Therefore" shows cause and effect (X happens, therefore Y happens), which does not fit.
- "Similarly" shows that two ideas are alike, which does not fit a shift from toys to accounting tools.
- "For instance" introduces an example, but the second clause is not an example of the first.
- "Although" introduces a contrast between what was once believed and what new evidence suggests, which perfectly matches the sentence.
So the correct answer is D) Although.