Praxis Reading : Identifying key transition words and phrases

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Praxis Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Identifying Key Transition Words And Phrases

Kelvyn is a bully and a misanthrope, not to mention that his hygiene leaves much to be desired. Last week his odor remained in my nostrils for days after he left.

The bolded and underlined phrase "not to mention that," serves what purpose in the passage overall?

Possible Answers:

It facilitates a purely grammatical transition

It continues the trend of enumerating negative qualities that began in the first clause, but facilitates a transition into a different kind of negative quality

It facilitates a transition from listing negative qualities to listing positive qualities

None of these

It facilitates a sudden transition from listing negative qualities to describing neutral qualities

Correct answer:

It continues the trend of enumerating negative qualities that began in the first clause, but facilitates a transition into a different kind of negative quality

Explanation:

This is a pretty simple question. "Not to mention that" is a transition phrase used to signal an addition that matches in spirit with a statement that has already been made. The first clause identifies Kelvyn as a bully and a misanthrope, both negative qualities, before adding on another, somewhat unrelated, negative quality, poor hygiene.

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