SAT Transitions
Choose the transition that marks the logical link between two sentences.
How to score it
- Cover the choices, read both sentences, and name the relationship yourself: contrast, cause, addition, example, sequence.
- Then pick the transition in that family.
- The hard split is concession/contrast (however) vs. cause-effect (therefore) — decide which the sentences actually instantiate.
Common traps
- “Therefore” when the relationship is actually contrast.
- Addition word where the second sentence undercuts the first.
- An example transition where no example follows.
The 1 question type, with real examples
Most logical transition
“Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?”
Many historians credit the printing press with democratizing knowledge in fifteenth-century Europe by making books more affordable and accessible. _____ the technology also enabled authoritarian regimes to disseminate propaganda more efficiently than ever before, consolidating rather than distributing power.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
- ATherefore,
- BHowever,✓
- CSimilarly,
- DIn addition,
"However" logically signals that the claim in this sentence—that the printing press also enabled authoritarian control—contrasts with the previous information about democratizing knowledge.
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