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Difficulty: HardTransitions: Contrast and Concession

For decades, epigraphers studying Mayan hieroglyphs adhered to the view of Sir Eric Thompson, who argued that the script was purely ideographic rather than phonetic. Because of Thompson's immense influence, researchers were widely discouraged from pursuing phonetic analyses of the glyphs. _______ Soviet linguist Yuri Knorozov published a seminal paper in 1952 proposing that the writing system was logo-syllabic, combining logograms with phonetic signs.

Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?

  1. A
    Consequently,
  2. Nonetheless,Answer
  3. C
    Furthermore,
  4. D
    For instance,

Answer

Nonetheless,
The transition 'Nonetheless' correctly signals a contrast or concession. The passage establishes that researchers were widely discouraged from pursuing phonetic analyses due to Sir Eric Thompson's dominance. Despite this discouragement, Yuri Knorozov went ahead and proposed a logo-syllabic system that included phonetic signs, which directly contradicts the prevailing trend.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the relationship between the sentences preceding and succeeding the blank.
The preceding sentences explain that Thompson's influence discouraged researchers from phonetic analysis, while the succeeding sentence states Knorozov proposed a phonetic system.
Understanding the logical connection between these ideas is necessary to choose the correct transition.
2
Identify the nature of this relationship.
Knorozov's research represents a counter-trend or exception to the discouragement mentioned, establishing a contrast or concession relationship.
This narrows the transition choice to words that express contrast or concession.
3
Evaluate the options to find the transition that conveys contrast/concession.
'Nonetheless' is a contrast/concession transition that fits the context, while the other choices represent cause-and-effect, addition, or exemplification.
Choosing the option that aligns with the identified relationship completes the text logically.

Key Concept

Recognizing contrast and concession transitions in a text to establish logical coherence between sentences.
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Topics

Transitions: Contrast and Concession

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