Covering the Blank and Predicting Your Own Word

These blank questions give you two statements and ask which transition links them. The trap is reading all four choices first: however, nevertheless, still, in contrast all sound similar, and comparing them to each other instead of to the text just breeds doubt. The fix is to ignore the choices completely at first. Read only the two sentences, cover the blank, and say in your own head what word you'd naturally use: so, but, also, for example. That word isn't the answer, but it names the relationship, and every relationship has a family: cause, contrast, addition, example, time.

Once you have your plain word, you're not hunting for a synonym, you're hunting for the family member. If your word is 'so', you want a causal connector: as a result, therefore, consequently, as a consequence. If your word is 'but', you want a concessive or contrast connector: however, nevertheless, still, yet. Three different causal words can all be correct on different days because the test rotates its vocabulary, but your plain prediction tells you which drawer to open, and only one choice lives in that drawer.

This habit is what the whole expression-of-ideas block rewards: deciding what a sentence needs before you see the options, then checking options against that need. It's the same discipline the sentence-construction questions want, where you build toward a stated goal instead of picking whatever sounds smooth. Skipping the prediction step is what makes these questions feel like guesswork; doing it first makes four similar words easy to tell apart.