Read the following selection from a business textbook. Respond to the questions that follow by choosing the letter of the correct answer.

Question

Wild Management Works at Wild Rumpus Bookstore
(1) It has become increasingly difficult for small, independent children’s bookstores to compete with
discount superstores and giant, powerful chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble. (2) , according to
the Association of Booksellers for Children, fifteen to twenty percent of these specialty stores go out of business every year. (3) in Minneapolis, one small, independently owned children’s bookstore is
thriving. (4) The Wild Rumpus, as it is called, has nearly doubled its annual sales over the last three years. (5) What gives the Wild Rumpus its edge are its owners and managers, Collette Morgan and Tom Braun.
(6) Morgan, previously a book buyer for a large chain, and Braun, formerly a college theater teacher,
believe that children, not parents, are their customers. (7) They work hard at staying in touch with the
needs and desires of their little customers and have fitted out the Wild Rumpus in the following ways. (8) ______, the store has two front doors, one standard size and one four-feet high and painted purple. (9) , vines have been painted on the walls, giving the store a whimsical1 feel. (10) __, stars appear on the ceiling in vivid colors. (11) Fourth, a “haunted shed” provides hours of fun for the children of shoppers. (12) ____, a menagerie2 of birds, cats, lizards, fish, rats, a salamander, a rooster, and a tarantula are kept in the store so that a grown-up shopper may well ask, “Is this a zoo or a bookstore?”
(13) For Morgan and Braun, exceptional management means not only effective planning and
implementation but also the ability to generate creative ideas. (14)traditional bookstores hold book
signings to promote sales of one specific book, Wild Rumpus holds “events” on topics that generate
interest in a whole range of related topics—and of course, in books that pertain to them. (15) For
example, at one event, a local archaeology professor gave a mummification lesson. (16), the children’s interest was stimulated not just in mummies but in many other aspects of ancient Egypt as well. (17) event featured a rock concert performed with power tools. (18) Morgan and Braun come up with most ideas for the events, they delegate the responsibility of organizing and running them to an employee specifically hired for the purpose. (19) This employee also produces a quarterly newsletter that incorporates ideas offered by the entire staff, which includes eight part-time salespeople.
(20) ______, Braun and Morgan turned down a request from Minneapolis’s Mall of America to open
a Wild Rumpus there. (21) That Wild Rumpus can flourish outside the world’s largest mall, while so
many small specialty stores on Main Streets throughout America have died, is further evidence of its
owners’ creativity and excellent management skills.

Which of the following transitions begins sentence 9?
a. First
b. Second
c. Finally
d. As a result

Answer 1

b. Second