Surviving copies of a Mesopotamian temple hymn all praise the city's wall, but they name different rulers as its builder. Scholars long treated the oldest surviving copy as closest to a single original and the other names as later scribal substitutions. The copies' dates offer some support for that view: the oldest manuscript does name the earliest ruler. Yet records of temple ceremonies associate each named ruler with the period when that version was performed, and some much later copies retain names from earlier ceremonial settings. ______ the variation is better understood as deliberate adaptation to ceremonial context than as copying error.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For a difficult transition question, track the function of each sentence across the entire argument rather than relying only on the sentence immediately before the blank. When the passage presents evidence on both sides and then favors one explanation, choose a transition that signals a judgment based on weighing those considerations, not one that merely signals contrast, restatement, or analogy.
Hints
Track both sides of the evidence
Notice that one detail supports the traditional view, whereas the later details point toward a different explanation.
Identify the concluding method
Ask whether the last sentence dismisses the newest evidence, restates one claim, extends an analogy, or weighs the passage's competing considerations.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the competing evidence
The oldest manuscript's naming of the earliest ruler lends some support to the traditional copying-error explanation. However, ceremonial records and the names retained in later copies support deliberate adaptation to ceremonial settings.
Determine the final sentence's role
The final sentence does not merely restate the most recent evidence. It evaluates the evidence presented across the passage and concludes that one explanation is more convincing than the other.
Select the precise transition
A transition signaling a judgment reached after weighing competing evidence is needed. “On balance” expresses that relationship precisely.