Choose a relation, then choose its words
Paragraph revision asks more than whether a sentence is grammatically possible. The wording should connect the intended ideas without inventing a causal claim, an example or an evaluation. ATI’s English outline includes audience, clarity and well-organised paragraphs. This unit uses a small original draft to practise one part of that wider writing task, not to replace vocabulary, spelling or broader composition study. Original draft: “The catalogue gives each object its technical name. The family handout explains each object using familiar language.” The two sentences describe different approaches for different text functions. If the revision task explicitly asks to mark that difference, “In contrast” fits. “Similarly” would signal resemblance; “As a result” would assert a causal relationship; “For example” would present the second as an instance of the first. A connector is a claim about a relationship, not decoration. An editor can also improve clarity by preserving the nouns that make a comparison intelligible. Replacing both catalogue and handout with an unexplained “it” would make the contrast harder to follow. This is an original revision observation about the supplied draft, not a new rule that pronouns should never be used. Read the surrounding sentences before deciding what information can be omitted safely. In a worked revision explanation, state the intended relation, quote only the small words needed to identify it and show why a competing connector changes that relation. A wrong connector may leave two individually grammatical sentences while altering the argument between them. The diagnostic case therefore specifies the desired relation. It does not ask the learner to guess an author’s unstated preference among several stylistically acceptable drafts.
Read this original draft: “The glossary preserves specialised terms so readers can search for them. ___, the overview replaces those terms with everyday wording.” Which opening explicitly signals the contrast between the two approaches?
- In contrast marks the difference between retaining technical wording and replacing it. The text presents two approaches, not an example of one, a similarity or an asserted causal result. The task asks for a specified discourse relation rather than a personal style preference.
Compare the other answer choices
The second approach is not an example of preserving the same specialised wording.
This asserts similarity where the task asks to signal the contrasting wording choices.
The draft supplies no causal claim that the glossary produces the overview’s wording choice.
Try it, then explain it.
Complete a short set without looking at the example. After each answer, explain which evidence or rule supports your decision and why the alternatives do not fit.
Sources & authorship
Original Slope explanations and examples. References support the concepts; they are not the source of copied questions. Independent educator review is pending.
OpenStax Writing Guide with Handbook: HandbookATI TEAS Version 7 Content Outline