A punctuation question with the same transition in every choice tests how to separate sentences. Cover the transition and ask whether each side can stand alone. A transition can't join full sentences: periods or semicolons separate them, commas alone don't, and colons introduce explanations. Then test the transition's meaning at the start of the next sentence to see how it connects that sentence to the first. Put a comma between the transition and the rest of its sentence.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the words on either side of the blank and check whether each side could stand alone as a sentence.
- Hint 2
Look at how the new tracking data relate to the initial belief. Does the second idea support the first or go against it?
Step-by-step
Split the sentences and test the link
Step 1Find the full sentences
Cover however and read the words on each side of the blank. Can they stand alone? The researchers believed the migration patterns were random, and newly collected tracking data reveal a consistent seasonal route. Both parts tell us who or what does something and give a complete thought, so we're joining two full sentences.
- Step 2
Rule out commas alone
The versions random, however, and random however, leave a comma splice, two full sentences joined only by a comma. However connects the ideas, but it can't join the sentences the way a word such as and or but can.
- Step 3
Use the contrast
Does the new evidence explain the initial belief or go against it? A consistent seasonal route goes against the belief that the patterns were random, so however belongs at the start of the second sentence. The version with a colon would introduce an explanation, not this contrast. A semicolon separates the sentences, and a comma after however sets it off. Choice B.