Drill 2 · English · Transitions and Connectors
ACT English: Transitions and Connectors (Drill 2) is a English practice drill covering Transitions and Connectors. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.
Transitions and Connectors questions ask you to choose the word or phrase that best expresses the logical relationship between ideas. This drill emphasizes contrast and concession transitions, however, nevertheless, although, despite, where the distinctions between answer choices are subtle and depend on close reading of both clauses.
Question 1. Which transition word or phrase best connects these two sentences?
Explanation: Choice C is correct. The first sentence describes the complexity and chemical demands of traditional film cameras; the second describes the ease and immediacy of digital cameras. The phrase "without any chemical processing at all" directly contrasts with the chemical processing described in the first sentence. "In contrast" correctly signals that the second sentence presents an opposing or different situation. Choice A uses "Likewise," which signals similarity, but the two cameras are being distinguished, not compared as similar. Choice B uses "Furthermore," which adds information of the same type, but the second sentence is not a further feature of traditional cameras; it describes their opposite. Choice D uses "As a result," implying digital cameras are a consequence of traditional film's complexity, that is not the logical relationship here.
Question 2. Which transition word or phrase best connects these two sentences?
Explanation: Choice A (No Change) is correct. The first sentence establishes a cause, neglect of water infrastructure over twenty years. The second sentence describes the effects, pipe failures, contamination, and a public health emergency. "Consequently" is a cause-and-effect transition that correctly signals that the second sentence describes the results of the first. Choice B uses "Meanwhile," which signals simultaneous events occurring at the same time, but the failures were a result of the neglect, not a simultaneous independent event. Choice C uses "Nevertheless," a contrast transition implying the failures happened despite the neglect, the opposite of the true relationship. Choice D uses "For example," implying the second sentence illustrates a general point rather than describing a consequence.
Question 3. Which transition word or phrase best connects these two sentences?
Explanation: Choice B is correct. Reducing emissions to pre-industrial levels and undoing environmental gains since the fossil fuel era are the same thing stated two different ways, the second sentence restates and clarifies the first. "In other words" correctly signals a restatement or paraphrase of the preceding idea. Choice A uses "In addition," which implies the second sentence adds a new, separate requirement to the first, but reverting to pre-industrial levels and undoing post-industrial gains are equivalent obligations, not two different ones. Choice C uses "However," a contrast transition, but the two sentences agree, not contrast. Choice D uses "As a result," implying the second requirement is a consequence of the first, which misrepresents the relationship.
Question 4. Which transition word or phrase best connects these two sentences?
Explanation: Choice C is correct. The passage describes a construction project progressing through stages in time: foundation in spring, framing in summer, inspection and occupancy in November. The second sentence describes the next step in this sequence. "Subsequently" signals that the second event followed the first in time, which is exactly the relationship here. Choice A uses "Nonetheless," a concession/contrast transition that implies the building passed inspection despite some obstacle, but no obstacle was mentioned in the first sentence. Choices B and D ("In contrast" and "On the other hand") are contrast transitions suggesting the two sentences describe opposing situations, which they do not; both describe successful stages of the same project.
Question 5. Which transition word or phrase best connects these two sentences?
Explanation: Choice A (No Change) is correct. The first sentence notes research progress; the second acknowledges a persistent limitation, no cure yet. "Still" functions as a concession transition here, meaning "despite the progress described, this problem remains." It correctly captures the contrast between hopeful research advances and the ongoing lack of a cure. Choice B uses "Therefore," a cause-and-effect transition; it would imply that the promising treatments caused the cure to remain elusive, which is the opposite of the intended meaning. Choice C uses "Similarly," suggesting the second sentence parallels the first, but no cure is the opposite of promising treatments, not a parallel to them. Choice D uses "For instance," implying the cure's elusiveness is an example of the research progress, which makes no logical sense.