CruxStudy › Practice by skill › Expression of Ideas
Transition questions practice
SAT, PSAT and ACT Expression of Ideas · 110 questions in the bank
A transition question hands you two sentences and a blank between them, and asks which connector belongs there. It is one of the most common question types on the SAT Reading and Writing section, and it appears throughout ACT English.
It is also one of the most learnable, because the answer never depends on how a word sounds. It depends on one thing: the logical relationship between the sentence before the blank and the sentence after it.
How to answer these
- Cover the answer choices. Read the sentence before and the sentence after, and say the relationship out loud in your own words.
- Sort it into one of three jobs. AND (the second sentence continues the first), BUT (it turns against it), or SO (it follows from it). Almost every transition belongs to one family.
- Only then look at the options, and find the one in your family. If two options are in the same family, one of them is usually a trap that adds a claim the passage never makes.
- Check direction, not vocabulary. Students lose these by picking the most impressive-sounding word. The test does not reward vocabulary here, only direction.
What the wrong answers look like
- Two transitions from the same family. If both 'However' and 'Nevertheless' appear, the answer is not in that family at all, or one of them carries a concession the passage does not set up.
- 'For example' with no example. Exemplification transitions require the second sentence to be an instance of the first, not merely related to it.
- 'Therefore' with no cause. A result transition needs the first sentence to actually cause the second, not just precede it.
- Time words standing in for logic. 'Meanwhile' and 'Afterward' claim a sequence in time. If nothing in the passage establishes when things happened, they are wrong however smooth they read.
Practice questions
Four real questions from the CruxStudy bank, with the keyed answer marked and the explanation behind a click so you can try them first.
Example 1Easier
For decades, textbooks described the tomato's wild ancestors as bland and barely edible. ______ recent taste trials found that several wild species have complex, pleasant flavors, prompting breeders to reexamine them as sources for new varieties.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- However, correct
- Therefore,
- For instance,
- Likewise,
Show the explanation
The second sentence contradicts the textbook description, so a contrast transition is needed. 'Therefore' wrongly signals that the pleasant flavors follow logically from the claim of blandness.
Example 2Medium
Octopuses can change their skin color in milliseconds to blend into rocky reefs. ______ certain cuttlefish adjust both the color and the texture of their skin to match their surroundings, becoming nearly invisible to passing predators.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- Similarly, correct
- In contrast,
- As a result,
- Nevertheless,
Show the explanation
Cuttlefish camouflage parallels the octopus example, so a comparison transition is logical. 'In contrast' is tempting because cuttlefish add texture change, but the sentences emphasize a shared ability, not an opposition.
Example 3Harder
Early critics dismissed the novelist's plots as improbable and her dialogue as overwrought, and sales of her first book were dismal. ______ she continued to publish a novel nearly every year, slowly building the readership that would make her one of the century's most popular writers.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- Accordingly,
- For instance,
- In fact,
- Nevertheless, correct
Show the explanation
Her persistence runs counter to the expectation set by harsh reviews and poor sales, so a concessive contrast is needed. 'Accordingly' would wrongly present her continued publishing as the natural result of failure.
Example 4Medium
The first transatlantic telegraph cable, completed in 1858, failed after roughly three weeks and needed several minutes to transmit a single character. ______ the cable laid in 1866 proved durable and carried about eight words per minute, transforming communication between continents.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- Likewise,
- By contrast, correct
- In other words,
- Consequently,
Show the explanation
The 1866 cable's durability and speed oppose the 1858 cable's failure and slowness, so a contrast transition is needed. 'Consequently' fails because the second cable's success was not caused by the first cable's failure in the way that word implies.
Drill all 110 of them
Open the drill inside CruxStudy and it serves transition questions questions one at a time, with an explanation after every answer and your accuracy tracked. Free, no account.
Start a drill
See the lesson
Common questions
What are the three types of transition on the SAT?
Every transition does one of three jobs: continues the previous idea (and, moreover, furthermore), contrasts with it (but, however, nevertheless), or follows from it (so, therefore, consequently). Sorting into those three families answers most transition questions before you read the options.
Are transition questions on both the SAT and the ACT?
Yes. They are a named question type on the SAT Reading and Writing section and appear throughout ACT English as part of Rhetorical Skills.
How do I get better at transitions quickly?
Cover the choices and state the relationship in your own words first. Most wrong answers are picked by students who read the options before deciding what the sentences are doing.