Question 50·Medium·Inferences
Although only a small fraction of the city's residents regularly attend community board meetings, those who do are disproportionately likely to volunteer for neighborhood improvement projects. One plausible reason is that attending the meetings exposes people to specific local needs, and this exposure therefore ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
For SAT Reading & Writing logical-completion questions, first identify the key signal words (like "therefore," "because," or "however") to understand what kind of relationship the blank must express (cause, contrast, result, etc.). Restate in your own words what the sentence is trying to show—here, a reason why one group volunteers more—and predict the general idea that should fill the blank before looking at the choices. Then, eliminate any choice that adds new unsupported information, changes the meaning (for example, from voluntary to mandatory), or doesn’t clearly fit the cause-and-effect or contrast relationship indicated by the sentence.
Hints
Locate the key transition word
Focus on the phrase "and this exposure therefore ______." What does the word "therefore" tell you about the relationship between exposure and the missing idea?
Connect the two sentences
The first sentence says meeting attendees are more likely to volunteer. The second sentence offers "One plausible reason" and then mentions exposure to specific local needs. What must the blank add to connect that exposure to the higher volunteering rate?
Check for support in the passage
Ask yourself for each option: Does this consequence clearly and reasonably follow just from attending meetings and learning about local needs, without adding new unsupported requirements or rules?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the situation described
First, restate what the passage tells you:
- Only a small fraction of residents attend community board meetings.
- However, those who do attend are much more likely to volunteer for neighborhood improvement projects.
So the passage is trying to explain why meeting attendees volunteer more often than others.
Identify the role of the blank
Look carefully at the second sentence: "One plausible reason is that attending the meetings exposes people to specific local needs, and this exposure therefore ______."
- The phrase "One plausible reason" introduces an explanation.
- The word "therefore" signals a result or effect of the exposure. So the blank must describe an effect of learning about specific local needs that explains the higher volunteering rate.
Predict the kind of idea needed
If people attend meetings and learn about specific local needs, what would logically follow that could explain why they volunteer more?
- The explanation should show how knowing about these needs leads them to behave differently from non-attendees.
- Specifically, it should connect exposure to local problems with increased participation in neighborhood improvement projects. Keep this general prediction in mind before checking the choices.
Evaluate each answer choice against the passage
Now compare each option to what the sentence needs:
- The blank must describe a reasonable, positive effect of exposure to local needs that explains higher voluntary participation.
- Choice A says that the exposure motivates attendees to take action through volunteering, which directly explains why they are more likely to volunteer for neighborhood projects and fits the cause-and-effect signaled by "therefore."
- The other options introduce ideas about reducing opportunities, prerequisites, or mandates, none of which logically follow from simply being exposed to local needs. Therefore, the best completion is A) motivates attendees to take action through volunteering.