Question

Rachel is contributing a brief video for her high school career counseling center in which she describes her summer as an engineering intern with the city’s electric power company. Read the excerpt from the body of Rachel’s video script draft and answer the question.

(1)Would my initial curiosity alone have led me to pursue an internship? (2)Perhaps, but I believe that without mentors, including my parents, my teachers, and most recently, Ms. Gladstone, the obstacles may have been enough to discourage me from filling out an application. (3)With their facilitation I was assured that whenever my dreams seemed too big or there were too many obstacles to overcome, there were people who could help me overcome them. (4)When I was overwhelmed by choosing which science classes to enroll in or managing my time so that I could apply for science fairs, sponsorships, or internships, I turned to them. (5)They listened to me express my doubts and encouraged me to try again.

Which clause would BEST be inserted at the beginning of sentence 5 to provide a clearer transition between ideas in this paragraph?

Whether or not I received a prize or scholarship or was selected for an internship,
Because I am a volunteer at my high school Career Services Center,
For the same reasons other mentors assisted me,
When I counted all my credits and found that I needed to enroll in yet another class,

Answer 1

Whether or not I received a prize or scholarship or was selected for an internship,

This is the best clause that would transition between the ideas of the two sentences. Sentence 4 is about applying for science fairs, sponsorships, or internships. Sentence 5 is about how the adults listened to him and encouraged him no matter the outcome. Adding this transition clearly shows why the mentors, teacher, parents, and Ms. Gladstone would need to listen to and encourage him. The other options do not work because they add new information to the paragraph which would make the sentence more confusing.

Answer 2

When I counted all my credits and found that I needed to enrol in yet another class,

Step-by-step explanation:

This sentence is the one that provides the smoothest transition between these ideas. The text states how Rachel has turned to her mentors every time she has struggled with something or she was unsure about which decision to make. She also says that any time something happened, they listened to her doubts and encouraged her to try again. The fact that she had to try again means that something went wrong. Therefore, the most likely answer is that she needed to enrol in another class in order to earn more credits.