Use transitions to signal emphasis, restatement/summary, exception, or concession when needed.
核心知识
Some transitions don't connect separate ideas—they reframe, concede, or carve out exceptions. Recognizing these subtler relationships is what separates good scores from great ones.
深入理解
The SAT goes beyond the five basic relationships. You'll also see:
Restatement/clarification – the second sentence says the same idea in different words. Signals: in other words, that is, put differently.
Emphasis – the second sentence strengthens or doubles down. Signals: indeed, in fact, above all.
Concession – the writer acknowledges a counterpoint before continuing the main argument. Signals: admittedly, granted, to be sure.
Exception – the second sentence identifies a case that doesn't follow the general rule. Signals: except, unless, aside from.
The key difference from basic contrast: concession acknowledges the other side but doesn't shift the writer's direction. Contrast actually changes direction. If the writer says "X is true" and follows with something that supports X even harder, you need emphasis—not contrast.
示例解析
Researchers have long assumed that deep-sea organisms rely almost exclusively on organic matter sinking from surface waters for nutrition. Recent expeditions to hydrothermal vents, however, have found thriving ecosystems sustained entirely by chemosynthesis. ______ some vent communities support population densities rivaling those of tropical coral reefs.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
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