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SAT · Reading and Writing · Expression of Ideas
Transitions is part of Expression of Ideas in the SAT Reading and Writing section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.
Question types you will see here include contrast transition, result or consequence transition, additional supporting point and example transition.
Common traps: additive word ('moreover') that adds when the logic turns; causal word ('therefore') that invents a result; similarity word ('likewise') that equates opposites.
Question 1
Most bats rely on echolocation to navigate. , many fruit bats depend largely on their keen eyesight.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
For example
Even so
Thus
Additionally
Answer: B. Even so
The second sentence presents information that contrasts with or runs counter to the first. "Even so" signals this relationship. The other choices signal relationships (thus, additionally, for example) that do not fit the logic of the two sentences.
Question 2
Some rivers appear to flow backward during extreme tides. , the Qiantang River in China reverses briefly when a tidal bore surges upstream.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Afterward
However
Similarly
For instance
Answer: D. For instance
The second sentence gives a specific instance of the general claim in the first. "For instance" signals this relationship. The other choices signal relationships (however, afterward, similarly) that do not fit the logic of the two sentences.
Question 3
In many countries, children born just after a school's cutoff date are nearly a year older than classmates born just before it. they are often bigger and more mature, and coaches and teachers tend to pick them for teams and advanced classes.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
As a result,
In contrast,
Nonetheless,
For instance,
Answer: A. As a result,
Being nearly a year older leads to being bigger and more mature, so a result transition (A) fits. (B) signals a contrast that is not present. (C) suggests the second sentence holds despite the first, when it follows from it. (D) treats the second sentence as an example rather than a consequence.
Question 4
The telescope's main mirror is only forty centimeters across, far smaller than those at professional observatories. , the astronomy club has used it to photograph galaxies millions of light-years away.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Even so
For example
Likewise
Accordingly
Answer: A. Even so
The club's achievement is surprising given the small mirror, so the concessive "Even so" is needed. "Accordingly" would make the deep-space photographs a natural result of the small mirror, "For example" would make them an illustration of its size, and "Likewise" claims a similarity.
Question 5
Pumped-storage plants work like giant batteries: they use cheap electricity at night to push water uphill into a reservoir and release it through turbines when demand peaks. the process is not perfectly efficient, since roughly a quarter of the energy used to pump the water is lost along the way.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Yet
Similarly
Accordingly
For instance
Answer: A. Yet
The first sentence presents the plants as a useful storage system, and the second states a limit on that picture, a loss of about a quarter of the energy, so a contrast word is needed: “Yet” (A). “Similarly” (B) would add a parallel point. “Accordingly” (C) would make the loss a result of the design. “For instance” (D) would make the loss an example of the process described.
A few questions show the style. The free scan shows which SAT skills cost you the most points, then builds a plan around them.