Track the scope of each claim before selecting a transition. In difficult transition questions, distinguish a conclusion based on several pieces of evidence from a restatement of the nearest sentence, especially when the passage separates what evidence may suggest from what it can actually establish.
Hints
- Hint 1
Distinguish the claims
Consider the difference between evidence of a company’s performance and evidence that a particular building was open.
- Hint 2
Use the whole passage
Determine whether the final sentence follows only from the immediately preceding clause or combines that clause with the earlier municipal evidence.
- Hint 3
Identify the relationship
Look for a transition that introduces an overall judgment after evidence with different implications has been considered.
Step-by-step
- Step 1
Separate the two historical claims
The playbill may support the limited claim that the company performed in 1892. It does not necessarily show that the theater at the address printed on the playbill was open then.
- Step 2
Consider all the evidence
The company did not occupy the printed address until 1901, and construction there was not approved until 1900. Those facts provide positive support for a post-1900 opening at that location.
- Step 3
Identify the final sentence’s function
The final sentence reaches an overall judgment after considering both what the playbill may establish and what it cannot establish. “On balance,” precisely signals this weighing of evidence.