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Question

Difficulty: HardSentence-Level Transitions

In the late nineteenth century, bicycle manufacturer Adeline Gray noticed that the heavy wool skirts women were expected to wear made riding both [1] cumbersome and dangerous. Nonetheless, she designed the 'safety skirt,' which used a system of pulleys to raise the fabric away from the wheels.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion to establish the most logical transition and maintain correct sentence structure?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. cumbersome and dangerous; consequently, she designedAnswer
  3. C
    cumbersome and dangerous, consequently, she designed
  4. D
    cumbersome and dangerous, so consequently, she designed

Answer

cumbersome and dangerous; consequently, she designed
The correct option properly uses the cause-and-effect transition 'consequently' to connect the difficulty of riding in heavy skirts with the design of a safety skirt. It uses a semicolon and comma to join the two independent clauses, avoiding a comma splice.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the two clauses separated by the transition.
The first clause states that traditional skirts made bicycle riding cumbersome and dangerous. The second clause states that Adeline Gray designed a 'safety skirt' to solve this issue. This is a cause-and-effect relationship.
Understanding the logical connection ensures we choose a transition word that conveys the correct relationship (cause-and-effect rather than contrast).
2
Evaluate the transition words in the options based on the identified relationship.
'Nonetheless' represents contrast (incorrect). 'Consequently' represents cause-and-effect (correct).
Filtering options by the correct transition category eliminates choices that establish the wrong logical relationship.
3
Examine the grammatical structure and punctuation of the remaining options containing the correct transition.
Joining two independent clauses with a conjunctive adverb like 'consequently' requires a semicolon before the transition and a comma after it. Using just a comma creates a comma splice. Using 'so consequently' creates redundant transition overuse.
Punctuation and conciseness rules must be satisfied to ensure the sentence is grammatically correct.

Key Concept

Sentence-Level Transitions
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Topics

Sentence-Level Transitions

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