SAT Reading & Writing: Hard Transitions (Drill 1)

Question 1. Hydrothermal vents form where cold seawater seeps down through cracks in the ocean floor, is superheated by magma in the crust below, and surges back upward carrying dissolved chemicals and minerals that support entire communities of specialized organisms. The cluster of vents that oceanographers explored along one stretch of the Mariana back-arc in 2015 is remarkable for its depth, with openings sitting nearly 4,000 meters below the surface; ______ many documented hydrothermal vents lie at depths closer to 2,000 to 2,500 meters.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) indeed, ✓
• B) nevertheless,
• C) similarly,
• D) as a result,

Explanation: (A) The second part of the sentence gives a baseline that makes the Mariana back-arc vents look unusually deep: these openings sit nearly 4,000 meters down, while many other vents lie closer to 2,000 to 2,500 meters. "Indeed" fits because the comparison confirms and strengthens the claim that the vents are remarkable for their depth. Choice (B), "nevertheless," is the one students fall for: seeing two different depth figures, students assume a contrast. But the typical depth of other vents does not oppose the claim that these vents are unusually deep; it is what makes that claim true. Choice (C), "similarly," would signal that the second depth figure parallels the first. The two figures are not alike; the baseline is lower precisely to highlight how far the 4,000-meter vents stand apart from it. Choice (D), "as a result," needs a cause-and-effect link. The depth of other vents is not caused by the depth of these vents, so no causal relationship exists.

Question 2. As one of the last people who could still speak Wukchumni fluently, the Wukchumni elder Marie Wilcox resolved to preserve the language of her childhood in the San Joaquin Valley so that future learners would not lose it. ______ over the course of more than two decades she taught herself to type, compiled a comprehensive dictionary one entry at a time, and helped record each word in her own voice, so that learners who never heard the language spoken at home could still study its correct pronunciation.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) By comparison,
• B) To that end, ✓
• C) In turn,
• D) For instance,

Explanation: (B) The first sentence states Wilcox's goal outright, to preserve Wukchumni for future learners, and the second describes the sustained work she undertook to accomplish it: compiling and recording a dictionary. "To that end" signals an action carried out in service of a stated purpose. Choice (A), "By comparison," sets two things side by side to weigh their differences. The second sentence does not compare Wilcox's work to anything; it describes the effort she made toward her goal. Choice (C), "In turn," signals that one thing leads to the next in a sequence or chain. The dictionary work is not a link triggered by an earlier step; it is the deliberate effort aimed at the goal she just set. Choice (D), "For instance," would make the dictionary one example among several ways of preserving the language. The passage presents it not as a sample case but as the central effort Wilcox undertook to reach her goal.

Question 3. The muralist Diego Rivera is celebrated for grounding his enormous public works in the visual traditions of Mexico's Indigenous peoples, filling the walls of palaces and public buildings with pre-Columbian motifs and sweeping scenes of everyday Mexican life. ______ he spent formative years studying in Europe, where he absorbed the techniques of the Italian fresco painters and moved among the Cubists of the Parisian avant-garde. Still, much of the bold imagery he is remembered for draws unmistakably on the art of the Americas.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) Granted, ✓
• B) Therefore,
• C) Likewise,
• D) Specifically,

Explanation: (A) The blank sentence concedes a point that seems to cut against the opening claim, that Rivera trained in Europe rather than at home, and the next sentence pulls the argument back with "Still." "Granted" introduces just this kind of acknowledged qualification that a writer raises in order to set it aside. Choice (B), "Therefore," signals a result. Rivera's European training is not a consequence of his grounding in Indigenous traditions; if anything it complicates that claim, so no cause-and-effect link fits. Choice (C), "Likewise," signals similarity or addition of a like point. Studying in Europe is not a second instance of drawing on Indigenous Mexican art; it points the opposite direction, which "Likewise" cannot capture. Choice (D), "Specifically," would introduce a narrower detail of the opening claim. European training is not a specification of Indigenous grounding but a countervailing fact, so "Specifically" misreads the relationship.

Question 4. Researchers studying arid watersheds across the American West have documented that the dams built by beavers raise the local water table, slow the rush of spring snowmelt, and keep streams flowing later into the dry season, buffering the surrounding land against drought and wildfire. ______ some state and federal land-management agencies have begun capturing beavers and relocating them into degraded creeks to rebuild wetlands, marking a shift away from longstanding policies that often treated the animals chiefly as nuisances to be removed.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) In other words,
• B) Nonetheless,
• C) Accordingly, ✓
• D) In particular,

Explanation: (C) The first sentence reports a finding, and the second reports the action agencies took because of it: moving beavers in instead of out. "Accordingly" marks a step taken as the logical consequence of the preceding information. Choice (A), "In other words," must restate the first sentence in different terms. Relocating beavers is not a paraphrase of the finding about water tables; it is a new action prompted by that finding. Choice (B), "Nonetheless," signals that what follows happens despite the first sentence. The agencies' response is in keeping with the finding, not in spite of it, so there is no opposition to mark. Choice (D), "In particular," is the one to watch: it would make the second sentence a narrower detail of the finding. But relocating beavers is not a more specific version of the claim that dams store water; it is a separate policy action that follows from the claim, which is why a result transition fits better.

Question 5. Archaeologists studying a set of ancient stone tools recovered from a hillside quarry initially proposed that the smooth, glossy surface of the blades was produced by deliberate polishing, which they took as evidence of a sophisticated finishing technique otherwise unknown in the region during that period. ______ a later microscopic analysis of the tools revealed networks of fine scratches consistent with those left by long tumbling in a fast-moving riverbed, suggesting that the distinctive sheen had formed through natural processes rather than human craft.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

• A) Supporting this account,
• B) Casting doubt on this idea, ✓
• C) Following from this technique,
• D) Restating this proposal,

Explanation: (B) The opening gives an explanation, that the polish was deliberate, and the new microscopic evidence points to a natural cause instead, which works against that explanation. "Casting doubt on this idea" names that undermining relationship between the new finding and the original claim. Choice (A), "Supporting this account," asserts the opposite of what the evidence does. Wear consistent with river tumbling argues for a natural origin, weakening the deliberate-polishing account rather than supporting it. Choice (C), "Following from this technique," treats the new finding as a result of the polishing technique. The finding instead suggests no such technique was used, so it cannot follow from one. Choice (D), "Restating this proposal," would mean the second sentence repeats the first in new words. It introduces fresh, contradictory evidence rather than restating the original claim, so this misdescribes the relationship.