Which practice most reliably signals relationships between ideas in a paragraph?

• A. Repetition of key terms and transitions.
• B. Varying pronouns without transitions.
• C. Short, abrupt sentences without transitions.
• D. Avoiding any repetition.

Answer: (A)

Showing relationships between ideas in a paragraph comes down to giving readers clear cues that connect thoughts. Repetition of key terms helps keep the topic in view and creates a continuous thread, so sentences feel tied to the same idea. Transitions do the heavy lifting by signaling how one sentence relates to the next— whether ideas add up, contrast, cause and effect, or simply move the discussion forward. When you keep repeating the main terms while weaving in transitions, the reader can easily follow how each sentence builds on the previous one and how the overall argument or description unfolds.

Without that steady thread, the paragraph can feel choppy. If you rely on short, abrupt sentences without transitions, the connections between ideas aren’t as clear. If you switch pronouns or forms without guiding transitions, the relationships can become hard to track. So the practice that most reliably signals how ideas connect is using both repetition of key terms and transitions to show the relationships.