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Difficulty: MediumSentence-Level Transitions

Passage

Deep inside a sandstone mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which houses millions of seed samples to safeguard global biodiversity. The facility is carved into a solid rock hillside, utilizing the surrounding permafrost to maintain a natural freezing environment. . Therefore, the facility still relies on additional electrical cooling units to lower the temperature to the optimal −18∘C-18^\circ\text{C} required for long-term seed viability.

Which of the following choices best replaces the underlined portion to create a logical and grammatically correct transition between the two sentences?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    , however,
  3. . However,Answer
  4. D
    . Furthermore,

Answer

The option stating '. However,' is the correct choice because it establishes a contrast relationship between the natural cooling environment and the necessity of active electrical refrigeration, while using proper punctuation to separate the two independent clauses.
The correct choice is the option that begins with a period and uses the contrast transition 'However'. The passage establishes that the seed vault utilizes natural permafrost to maintain a freezing environment, but then states that active electrical cooling is still necessary to reach the required temperature. This requires a contrast transition, and the two independent clauses must be separated by a period to avoid a punctuation error.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the two sentences.
The first sentence describes the natural cooling provided by the permafrost, and the second sentence states that active refrigeration is still needed. These two ideas contrast.
Identifying the logical relationship allows us to choose the correct transition category.
2
Evaluate the transition words based on the contrast relationship.
'Therefore' and 'Furthermore' are incorrect because they indicate cause-effect and addition, respectively. 'However' is correct because it indicates contrast.
This narrows the choices down to the options containing 'however'.
3
Check the punctuation separating the two independent clauses.
Using a period to separate the clauses is grammatically correct. Using a comma before 'however' results in a comma splice.
Proper punctuation is required to join independent clauses without creating a run-on sentence.

Key Concept

Sentence-Level Transitions and Punctuation of Independent Clauses
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Sentence-Level Transitions

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