SAT transitions between ideas: review and practice

• Pick the word or phrase that shows how two sentences relate.
• Tell contrast (however) from addition (moreover), cause and effect (therefore) and example (for instance).
• Recognize when a sentence restates or narrows the one before it (in other words, specifically).
• Use time words (then, meanwhile, subsequently) only when the passage describes that order.

• Choosing a transition because it sounds smooth. Moreover and however both read fine aloud. Only the logic of the two sentences tells you which is right.
• Seeing contrast where there isn't any. If the first sentence says a new bridge saved commuters time and the next says it also cut traffic, that's addition, not however.
• Reading cause into sequence. If one event simply follows another, therefore claims the first caused the second. Choose then or subsequently unless the passage gives a reason.
• Calling a new point an example. For example only works if the next sentence is a specific case of the claim before it. A separate, parallel point needs moreover or similarly.
• Mixing up meanwhile and afterward. Meanwhile means at the same time; subsequently means later. Check the timeline the passage actually describes.

1. Question 1 · Easy

   Two greenhouse coverings were tested under the same lamps. A clear covering transmitted 84 percent of the incoming light, leaving the plants beneath it brightly illuminated. ______ a frosted covering transmitted just 47 percent, producing substantially dimmer conditions at plant height. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • AIn other words,
   • BConsequently,
   • CBy contrast,
   • DFor instance,
   Show the answer

   C. By contrast connects different transmission rates for the two coverings under the same conditions. The second result is a comparison with the first result. For instance mislabels the frosted covering’s result as an example of the clear covering’s result; Consequently invents causation between the tests; In other words treats unequal measurements as equivalent statements.

2. Question 2 · Easy

   Until its new ferry opened, residents of Alderwick had to travel around the bay to reach the regional market. The ferry now crosses the bay directly; ______ the journey to the market takes much less time. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • Apreviously,
   • Bfor example,
   • Cconsequently,
   • Dlikewise,
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   C. Consequently connects the more direct route with the shorter journey it makes possible. Likewise invents a parallel case; For example treats a travel-time consequence as an instance of a route; Previously places the shorter journey before the ferry opened.

3. Question 3 · Medium

   Urban moths encounter bright artificial light during their nightly flights. Ecologist Oksana Bouchard examined how the direction of that light affected their flight paths. ______ she filmed moths circling a lamp while its position alternated between the ceiling and the floor of an enclosed chamber. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • AInstead,
   • BLikewise,
   • CConsequently,
   • DSpecifically,
   Show the answer

   D. Choice D introduces the procedure used to investigate the effect of light direction. Choice B assumes a second comparable investigation, choice A suggests that the procedure replaced the stated investigation, and choice C treats a research method as a consequence rather than a specification of that investigation.

4. Question 4 · Medium

   For an outdoor mosaic, an artist arranges ceramic fragments face down on a sheet of paper, using a removable adhesive to hold the design together. ______ she lowers the sheet onto a bed of wet mortar. Once the mortar hardens, she dampens the paper and peels it away, exposing the fragments’ colored surfaces. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • AIn other words,
   • BNext,
   • CInstead,
   • DBeforehand,
   Show the answer

   B. Next places lowering between arranging the fragments and removing the paper after the mortar hardens. Beforehand reverses the order by placing the transfer before the design has been assembled, Instead treats transfer as replacing preparation, and In other words mistakes a new action for a paraphrase of arranging.

5. Question 5 · Hard

   Engineer Kwame Adjei’s model of droplets on vibrating plates predicts two outcomes for droplets of equal size: vibration rates above 28 cycles per second cause neighboring droplets to merge within ten minutes, whereas lower rates leave them separate. A plate vibrating at 41 cycles per second, ______, still carried separate neighboring droplets at the end of a ten-minute trial, even though their initial sizes and spacing matched the model’s assumptions. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • Afittingly
   • Bthough
   • Cfor example
   • Dlikewise
   Show the answer

   B. The trial’s rate exceeds 28 cycles per second, so the applicable prediction is merging within ten minutes, not continued separation. Though marks the conflict between that prediction and the observed separate droplets. Likewise borrows the separate-droplet outcome from the lower-rate branch; Fittingly calls a prediction failure expected; For example presents the incompatible result as an illustration of the model.

6. Question 6 · Hard

   A conventional model of exchange treats preferences as fixed inputs from which transactions follow. Economist Nora Iversen instead models preferences as products of transactions, allowing each exchange to revise the valuations that guide later exchanges. ______ her account relocates preference formation inside the economic process being explained. Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

   • AEven so,
   • BFor instance,
   • CConversely,
   • DThus,
   Show the answer

   D. Thus introduces a characterization supported by Iversen’s relocation of preferences from fixed inputs to products of exchange. Conversely moves the old-versus-new contrast to the wrong boundary; For instance mistakes a general theoretical characterization for a concrete case; Even so implies that the characterization conflicts with the account it describes.

Ashore's SAT course starts with a 15-minute check that finds the question types costing you the most points, then gives you lessons and practice for each.

• Sentence Boundaries and Punctuation
• Agreement, Verb Forms, and Modifiers
• Choosing the Precise Word
• Purpose, Structure, and Paired Texts
• Main Ideas and Details
• Using Evidence: Quotes and Data
• Drawing Inferences
• Writing from Notes
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