What is the function of the transition in this sentence?

plans for a transcontinental railroad began years before the civil war, yet officials from around the country could not agree on a location.

to summarize ideas
to give an example
to show an exception
to emphasize

Ineed ideas for this essay something easy that i can do does anyone have any ideas on what i should write on for this 100 points ! write a procedural essay with media that is 1 ½–2 pages in length. clearly state your topic, and include all steps necessary to complete the procedure. you will submit your prewriting and planning documents along with your essay. need i only have 4 hours to do this

Read this passage: many manufacturers prefer plastic as a material for containers because it can be molded into many shapes. but plastic is not very strong. it must be fused with glass or steel for strength. it is also not very durable. even the strongest plastic can break under enough pressure. the biggest disadvantage to using plastic is that it does not decompose. while plastic can be recycled, doing so is tedious and difficult. while it may be more expensive and difficult to work with, aluminum is a much stronger building material with far greater tensile strength. it conducts electricity because it is metal. best of all, aluminum is very easy to recycle. even if it is thrown away, it decomposes much more quickly than most manufacturing materials. how does the compare-and-contrast organizational pattern of the passage support the author's purpose? a. the passage gradually leads up to the point about decomposition to inform the reader about the importance of recycling plastics. b. the passage lists the advantages and disadvantages of each material to make a case for the use of plastic and not aluminum in containers. c. the passage begins with a description of plastic's problems in order to call attention to the good qualities of aluminum. d. the passage shows the superiority of aluminum in order to make a case for the production of stronger plastics.

Excerpt from saving the thrift store: a dramalee washington2rosa: eddie, i don’t recognize the shirt you’re wearing. when did you get it? 3louis: it doesn’t look as disheveled as the soccer shirts you wear all the time.4eddie: well, i’m not going to tiptoe through the soccer field to keep my clothes neat. (louis playfully aims a soccer ball at eddie. rosa deflects it.)5rosa: what i was trying to say is that the shirt looks really good. (louis wanders over to the morning newspaper that is still sitting on the front lawn. he leafs through it while eddie and rosa talk.) in line 5, which point is rosa making when she says eddie’s shirt looks good? a) the store must have new merchandise. b) rosa is jealous of eddie’s new shirt. c) eddie must have done his own laundry. d) eddie often wears old, tattered shirts.