Selecting Concluding Sentences and Transitions

[1] In the early nineteenth century, Mary Anning patrolled the crumbling cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, uncovering fossils that would challenge established scientific doctrines about the history of the Earth. Despite her lack of formal education, Anning possessed an extraordinary talent for locating and excavating specimens. Her discoveries, which included the first correctly identified ichthyosaur skeleton and a nearly complete plesiosaur, provided crucial evidence for the emerging theory of extinction.

[2] At the time, many scientists believed that species did not go extinct, arguing that all creatures created by God must still exist somewhere on the globe. Anning's fossils, however, depicted bizarre, ancient marine reptiles that resembled no living animals. Her work forced the scientific community to acknowledge that the prehistoric world was vastly different from the modern one. _________

The writer wants to conclude the passage with a sentence that emphasizes the historical significance of Anning’s discoveries and ties back to the main idea of the passage. Which of the following choices best accomplishes this goal?

Early motion pictures were filmed on nitrate stock, a highly flammable material that decays rapidly over time if not stored in temperature-controlled vaults. To prevent the loss of these historical treasures, archivists work tirelessly to restore and digitize surviving reels. [1]

The writer wants to add a concluding sentence after sentence 2 (marked with [1]) that summarizes the main idea of the paragraph and emphasizes the importance of the preservation efforts. Which of the following options best accomplishes this goal?

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it buried the Roman town of Herculaneum under volcanic ash, carbonizing hundreds of papyrus scrolls in a lavish villa. For centuries, these scrolls remained unreadable, reduced to fragile lumps of carbon that crumbled at the slightest touch. Recently, however, scientists have begun using advanced X-ray imaging techniques to read the scrolls without unrolling them. By detecting the tiny differences in how X-rays pass through the charred papyrus versus the ancient ink, researchers can reconstruct the writing three-dimensionally. [1]

Which of the following concluding sentences, if added at [1], would best support the paragraph's main focus on the role of modern technology in uncovering historical texts?

In 1895, Harvard University’s new Fogg Art Museum opened to the public, but its lecture hall was immediately deemed an acoustic failure. The room’s curved walls and high plaster ceiling created an echo so persistent that speakers’ words remained suspended in the air, overlapping into an unintelligible din. Desperate for a solution, the university president turned to a young physics professor, Wallace Sabine. Sabine spent years conducting painstaking experiments, using organ pipes and cushions borrowed from nearby theaters to measure sound decay. His work culminated in the first mathematical relationship governing reverberation time, effectively establishing the field of architectural acoustics.

Sabine’s new scientific principles were put to the test when he was hired to design Boston’s Symphony Hall. Rather than copying the circular shapes that had ruined the Fogg museum’s hall, Sabine chose a rectangular, "shoebox" layout with deep balconies, high ceilings, and walls coffered with niches and statues. These features dispersed the sound waves evenly throughout the auditorium, preventing focused echoes. Even today, the venue remains a popular destination for tourists visiting the historic city of Boston.

Which choice most effectively concludes the paragraph by highlighting the successful application of Sabine’s new scientific field and its lasting impact?

In 1943, mechanical engineer Richard James was working in a Philadelphia shipyard, attempting to develop springs that could support and stabilize sensitive marine instruments. During his experiments, he accidentally knocked a tension spring off a shelf. Instead of simply falling to the ground, the spring stepped down from a stack of books, onto a table, and coiled itself upright on the floor. James spent the next two years determining the perfect steel wire tension to turn this accidental movement into a children's toy, which his wife, Betty, named the "Slinky." [1]

The writer wants to conclude the paragraph with a sentence that highlights how a simple accident in a shipyard led to a successful, enduring commercial product. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

In 1856, eighteen-year-old chemistry student William Henry Perkin was attempting to synthesize quinine, a treatment for malaria, in his home laboratory. Instead of obtaining the clear drug, his experiments yielded a dark, sticky sludge. Rather than discarding the failed mixture, Perkin investigated its properties and discovered that when diluted with alcohol, it produced a vibrant, long-lasting purple color. Historically, purple dye was harvested from the mucus of thousands of marine snails, rendering it so expensive that only royalty could afford it. Recognizing the commercial potential of his accidental creation, Perkin patented the substance as mauveine, the world's first synthetic dye, and opened a factory to mass-produce it.

The writer wants to add a concluding sentence to the paragraph that reinforces the significance of Perkin's transition from an accidental discovery to a commercial success. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

In the winter of 1903, Mary Anderson was riding a streetcar in New York City when she noticed the driver struggling to see through the falling sleet. To clear the windshield, the driver had to open the window, reach outside, and wipe the glass by hand, which let freezing air and wet snow into the vehicle. Upon returning home to Alabama, Anderson designed a swinging arm with a rubber blade that could be operated by a lever from inside the cab. Patented in 1903, her device became the first functional windshield wiper.

The writer wants to conclude the paragraph with a sentence that emphasizes the lasting impact of Anderson's invention. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

Tatiana Proskouriakoff, an illustrator-turned-archaeologist, revolutionized the field of Mayan decipherment in the mid-twentieth century. For decades, prevailing scholarly consensus held that Mayan hieroglyphs represented exclusively astronomical calculations and abstract religious concepts, completely detached from historical events. However, while analyzing carved stone monuments called stelae at the ancient city of Piedras Negras, Proskouriakoff identified recurring patterns of dates that corresponded to the average lifespans of human beings. She hypothesized that these monuments did not depict nameless gods, but rather documented the actual biographies of Mayan rulers.

The writer wants to conclude the passage by emphasizing how Proskouriakoff’s discovery permanently transformed the understanding of Mayan history. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

In the early eighteenth century, navigating the open seas remained a perilous endeavor. While sailors could easily determine their latitude by measuring the angle of the sun or stars relative to the horizon, determining longitude was an unresolved challenge. Without an accurate way to calculate east-west position, ships frequently drifted off course, leading to disastrous shipwrecks. The British Parliament, desperate for a solution, passed the Longitude Act of $1714$, offering a massive cash prize to anyone who could develop a method to determine longitude within half a degree. Most prominent scientists of the era believed the answer lay in the stars, advocating for complex astronomical calculations that required clear night skies. [1]

John Harrison, a self-taught English clockmaker, rejected this celestial approach. Instead, he proposed a mechanical solution: a highly precise clock called a marine chronometer that could keep accurate time at sea despite the motion of the ship and changes in temperature.

Which choice, placed at [1], best concludes the first paragraph and transitions to the second paragraph?

Paragraph 1

Completed in 2012, the Tokyo Skytree stands as one of the tallest structures in the world, rising 634 meters above a city prone to frequent earthquakes. To prevent the tower from collapsing during seismic activity, engineers turned to traditional Japanese architecture for inspiration. Specifically, they analyzed the design of ancient five-story pagodas, which have withstood centuries of tremors. Pagodas feature a central pillar, known as a *shinbashira*, that is structurally independent of the surrounding stories. During an earthquake, the pillar and the outer frame sway out of phase with one another, effectively canceling out much of the seismic energy.

Paragraph 2

The Skytree incorporates a modern version of this system: a massive central concrete column that is connected to the outer steel truss only by fluid dampers. When seismic waves strike, the outer frame sways while the central column resists the motion, absorbing the energy through the dampers. Under extreme conditions, this system can reduce the overall movement of the tower by up to 50 percent. ___________

The writer wants to conclude the passage by emphasizing how the combination of ancient design and modern technology ensures the safety of the Skytree. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

Marie Tharp's career in cartography began at a time when women were barred from conducting research aboard vessels. Staying behind at Columbia University, Tharp transformed raw sonar data collected by her colleague Bruce Heezen into detailed three-dimensional drawings of the ocean floor. By meticulously plotting these depth measurements, she discovered a massive V-shaped rift valley running down the center of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. While Heezen initially dismissed her findings as "girl talk" that supported the then-controversial theory of continental drift, Tharp persisted, eventually convincing him that the valley was real.

The writer wants to add a sentence at the end of the passage to conclude the paragraph by summarizing the significance of Tharp's discovery. Which choice best accomplishes this goal?

In 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a South African museum curator, received a call from a local fisherman who had caught a bizarre, heavy fish with limb-like lobed fins and an armored head. Recognizing its uniqueness, she sent descriptions to J.L.B. Smith, a prominent chemist and amateur ichthyologist, who identified it as a coelacanth—a primitive fish believed to have gone extinct 66 million years ago. This shocking discovery shook the scientific community, challenging long-held assumptions about the fossil record and the evolutionary history of vertebrates.

To find more specimens, Smith launched a decades-long search along the coast of the Indian Ocean, eventually discovering a second population near the Comoro Islands. Researchers soon realized that the coelacanth was not merely a lone survivor but part of a resilient, deep-water ecosystem that had remained largely undisturbed for eons. Consequently, J.L.B. Smith spent many years traveling along the coast of Africa looking for more of these creatures.

The writer wants to conclude the passage by emphasizing that the coelacanth's discovery continues to influence modern marine biology. Given that all the choices are true, which choice best accomplishes this goal?

Deep within a sandstone mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, often referred to as the "Doomsday Vault." Designed to withstand natural and man-made disasters, the facility serves as a safety net for the world's agricultural biodiversity. It stores millions of seed samples from across the globe, preserving them in sub-zero temperatures. In the event of a global catastrophe or localized crop failure, these seeds can be retrieved to restart agricultural production.

While some critics argue that the resources spent on the vault would be better utilized in supporting active farming communities, proponents emphasize its long-term security benefits. Indeed, the vault has already proved its value. In 2015, researchers from the Middle East withdrew seeds to replace a gene bank destroyed by conflict. __________

Which of the following sentences, if added at the placeholder, would provide the most effective conclusion to the passage by reinforcing its main theme?

The following paragraph describes the invention of the QWERTY keyboard layout:

In 1868, printer and inventor Christopher Latham Sholes patented the first commercially successful typewriter. Sholes’s early models, however, had a frustrating flaw: if a typist struck adjacent keys in rapid succession, the metal typebars would easily collide and jam. To solve this problem, Sholes designed the QWERTY keyboard layout, placing frequently used letter pairs far apart on the keyboard. This design forced typists to work slightly slower, which successfully prevented the mechanical bars from sticking together. __________

Which of the following concluding sentences would best wrap up the paragraph by emphasizing the long-lasting impact of Sholes's invention?

During the early nineteenth century, Mary Anning patrolled the crumbling cliffs of Lyme Regis, England, uncovering fossils that would reshape scientific understanding of prehistoric life. Despite her lack of formal education and the societal barriers she faced as a working-class woman, Anning’s sharp observations led to the discovery of the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton and a remarkable plesiosaur. Her findings provided crucial evidence for the controversial theory of extinction, challenging the prevailing belief that the natural world had remained unchanged since creation. [1]

The writer wants to end the paragraph with a sentence that emphasizes the lasting impact of Anning's discoveries on the field of science. Given that all the options are true, which choice best accomplishes this goal at the marker [1]?

William Henry Perkin and the Dawn of Synthetic Chemistry

In 1856, eighteen-year-old chemist William Henry Perkin was attempting to synthesize quinine, a valuable treatment for malaria, in his home laboratory. Instead of obtaining the clear drug, his experiments resulted in a dark, sludge-like residue. Rather than discarding the failed mixture, Perkin investigated further and discovered that rinsing the sludge with alcohol produced a vibrant purple solution. This accidental substance was mauveine, the world’s first synthetic aniline dye. Prior to Perkin’s breakthrough, purple dye had to be painstakingly harvested from thousands of Mediterranean sea snails, making purple clothing a luxury reserved strictly for royalty and the ultra-wealthy. [1]

He patented the manufacturing process and established a factory to mass-produce the dye, effectively launching the modern chemical industry. Demand soared as European royalty, including Queen Victoria, began wearing mauve garments. By turning a laboratory mishap into a global enterprise, Perkin transformed both the fashion world and the field of industrial chemistry.

Given that all the choices are true, which choice, if inserted at [1], provides the most logical and effective transition from the first paragraph to the second paragraph?

When chief engineer Washington Roebling became bedridden with decompression sickness during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, his wife, Emily Warren Roebling, stepped in to facilitate communication between her husband and the construction site. She began by taking detailed notes, delivering messages, and representing him at official gatherings. Over the next decade, Emily studied higher mathematics, civil engineering, and cable construction, effectively managing the daily operations of one of the nineteenth century's greatest engineering feats.

Upon the bridge's grand opening in 1883, Emily was the first person to cross it by carriage, carrying a rooster as a symbol of victory. Today, a plaque on the bridge honors her, noting that back of every great work we can find the self-sacrificing devotion of a woman. _________

Which of the following concluding sentences best wraps up the passage while emphasizing Emily Roebling's key contribution to the bridge's completion?

Passage

In 1965, chemist Stephanie Kwolek was analyzing synthetic fiber chains at DuPont in search of a lightweight material to reinforce car tires. During her experiments, she generated a strange, cloudy solution that looked unlike the thick, clear polymers she typically worked with. Rather than discarding the unusual mixture, Kwolek convinced a colleague to run it through a spinneret, a machine used to draw liquid polymers into fibers. The resulting fiber was astonishingly strong—five times stronger than steel on a pound-for-pound basis—and resistant to both heat and corrosion. [1]

DuPont quickly recognized the commercial potential of this new material, trademarking it as Kevlar. In the decades following Kwolek's discovery, Kevlar found applications in racing sails, bicycle tires, and optical fiber cables. Most notably, its high tensile strength and lightweight nature revolutionized personal armor, saving the lives of countless military personnel and law enforcement officers.

Question

The writer wants to add a sentence at the end of the first paragraph (at point [1]) to conclude the discussion of Kwolek’s laboratory discovery and transition to the next paragraph's focus on Kevlar's commercial applications. Which of the following sentences best accomplishes this goal?

In the late nineteenth century, socialite Josephine Cochrane grew frustrated with the frequent chipping of her fine china during hand-washing. Resolving to design a mechanical solution, she measured her dishes, constructed wire compartments to hold them secure, and coupled these with a copper boiler and a hand-cranked water pump. Her invention was a success, washing dishes quickly and safely. Cochrane’s design was patented in 1886 and went on to win top honors at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

At first, the commercial dishwasher found its primary market in hotels and restaurants, which valued the machine’s efficiency and sanitation capabilities. However, Cochrane continued to refine her design, envisioning a future where every home would have one. [1]

Which of the following sentences, if added at point [1], would provide the most logical transition and effective conclusion to the passage?

In the late nineteenth century, Thomas Edison's phonograph introduced the wax cylinder, the first commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. These fragile cylinders captured invaluable early musical performances, spoken-word recordings, and oral histories. However, because wax degrades rapidly when exposed to humidity and physical playback wears down the grooves, playing these recordings carries a high risk of destroying them forever.

To solve this, researchers developed IRENE, a non-contact optical scanning system that creates ultra-high-resolution digital images of the cylinders' grooves. Software then reconstructs the audio from these digital maps, bypassing the need for physical contact. [1] This non-contact system, that utilizes digital photography, will preserve the fragile cylinders for future generations.

Which choice most effectively concludes the paragraph by emphasizing how the digital scanning technology solves the problem of preserving fragile historical recordings?