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Difficulty: HardSentence-Level Transitions

The following passage is an excerpt from an article about modern engineering challenges.

Constructed deep inside a sandstone mountain on a remote Arctic island, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was designed to preserve the world's crop diversity against global catastrophes. The facility was built there specifically because the surrounding permafrost was expected to act as a natural, fail-safe coolant even if the vault's mechanical refrigeration systems failed. Consequently, rising Arctic temperatures in 2017 caused the permafrost to melt, sending meltwater rushing into the entrance tunnel and forcing engineers to install waterproof walls.

Which choice provides the most logical transition between the two sentences?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. However,Answer
  3. C
    , however,
  4. D
    For example,

Answer

The transition 'However,' is the correct choice because it establishes the appropriate contrast relationship and is punctuated correctly.
The correct answer uses the contrast transition 'However,' starting a new sentence. This transition logically connects the expectation that the permafrost would serve as a fail-safe coolant with the reality that rising temperatures caused it to melt. It is grammatically correct because a period separates the two independent clauses.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the two sentences.
The first sentence describes the expectation that permafrost would act as a fail-safe coolant. The second sentence describes the reality that rising temperatures caused the permafrost to melt. This is a contrast relationship.
Identifying the logical connection is the first step in choosing the correct transition word.
2
Evaluate the transition words based on the logical relationship.
The transition 'However' represents contrast, whereas 'Consequently' represents cause-and-effect, and 'For example' represents illustration.
Only a contrast transition makes sense in this context.
3
Check the punctuation and grammatical structure of the options.
The option containing 'however' preceded by a comma creates a comma splice because 'however' cannot join two independent clauses. The option starting a new sentence with 'However,' is grammatically correct.
Transitions must be punctuated correctly to avoid sentence structure errors like comma splices.

Key Concept

Selecting the correct transition word to establish logical relationships between sentences while maintaining proper punctuation and avoiding comma splices.
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Sentence-Level Transitions

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