A reliable method
- Decide whether the ideas contrast, continue, exemplify, or show cause.
- Choose a transition matching that relationship.
- For notes, underline the requested writing goal.
- Use relevant facts accurately and remove unrelated details.
Example 1
The first prototype was inexpensive to build. ___, it required frequent repairs, making its long-term operating cost higher than expected.
Which transition best fits the logical relationship?
- For example
- However
- Similarly
- In addition to this example
Answer B: However
The low initial cost contrasts with the disappointing operating cost. "However" signals that contrast. The other choices would frame the second sentence as an example, similarity, or additive example rather than a qualification.
Example 2
The outdoor sensors lost power during the storm. ___, researchers could not collect temperature data from them that afternoon.
Which transition best expresses the relationship?
- Nevertheless
- By contrast
- Consequently
- Similarly
Answer C: Consequently
The power loss explains the data-collection failure, so a result transition is appropriate. "Consequently" introduces that effect; contrast and similarity markers would misstate the relationship between the events.
Common mistakes
- A transition cannot repair a logical relationship that is not present.
- A synthesis answer must follow the notes, not invent a stronger claim.
Practice without the answer first
Practice 1
Notes: The North Reading Room opened in 1980. It has 60 seats. The South Reading Room opened in 2005. It has 90 seats. Goal: emphasize how the rooms differ in seating capacity.
Which sentence best meets the goal?
- The rooms opened in different years.
- The North Reading Room opened in 1980.
- Both rooms are reading rooms.
- The South Reading Room seats 90 people, compared with 60 in the North Reading Room.
Practice 2
Notes: A city planted 40 oak trees in one park and 25 in another. Volunteers watered the new trees during summer. Goal: state the total number of oaks planted across the two parks.
Which sentence best meets the goal?
- The city planted 65 oak trees across the two parks.
- Every tree in the city is an oak.
- Volunteers planted more trees than the city.
- The first park received 25 oak trees.
Practice 3
The article explains that a small turbine can generate electricity from moving water. It then describes a school that uses one in a nearby stream. The writer wants to introduce this school as an illustration of the general idea.
Which transition is most appropriate?
- On the contrary
- For instance
- Despite this
- As a result of that school
Answers and explanations
Practice 1
Answer D: The South Reading Room seats 90 people, compared with 60 in the North Reading Room.
The goal is a seating comparison. The last option includes both relevant capacities without inventing information. The other statements concern dates, describe one room only, or give an uninformative similarity.
Practice 2
Answer A: The city planted 65 oak trees across the two parks.
Adding the two reported counts gives 65, which directly answers the goal. The other options invent a universal claim, invent a comparison with volunteers, or switch the park counts.
Practice 3
Answer B: For instance
The school illustrates the preceding explanation, so an example transition fits. Nothing indicates opposition, concession, or a claim that the school caused the general principle.
All passages, questions, and rationales on this page are original Testinar skill practice. They are not official exam material or a complete timed section.
