A 2022 study by researchers Hala Altamimi and Qiaozhen Liu investigated the relationship between nonprofit arts organizations' spending and performanc...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
A 2022 study by researchers Hala Altamimi and Qiaozhen Liu investigated the relationship between nonprofit arts organizations' spending and performance. ______ the researchers examined the correlation between how much 22,328 US arts nonprofits spent on overhead—operational costs such as equipment and fundraising—and how many people attended their events (a measure of overall success).
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "A 2022 study by researchers Hala Altamimi and Qiaozhen Liu investigated the relationship between nonprofit arts organizations' spending and performance." |
|
| "[MISSING TRANSITION]" |
|
| "the researchers examined the correlation between how much 22,328 US arts nonprofits spent on overhead—operational costs such as equipment and fundraising—and how many people attended their events (a measure of overall success)." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Researchers conducted a study examining how nonprofit arts organizations' overhead spending relates to their event attendance.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces a study about the general relationship between spending and performance, then provides the specific details about what variables the researchers actually measured in their investigation.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The first sentence gives us a broad overview - a study about spending and performance
- The second sentence gets much more detailed - it tells us exactly what 22,328 organizations they studied, defines overhead costs, and specifies that attendance was their measure of success
- The logical relationship here is that the second sentence is drilling down into specifics about what was mentioned generally in the first sentence
- The transition word should signal moving from general to specific information
- "Thus" signals a conclusion or result, but the second sentence isn't a conclusion - it's giving us details about the study methodology
- "In addition" suggests we're adding separate, new information, but we're not adding new information - we're getting specific about the same study
- "By comparison" signals that we're contrasting two different things, but both sentences are about the same study - there's no comparison happening
- "Specifically" signals that we're about to get detailed information about something just mentioned
- Perfect fit: first sentence mentions the relationship they investigated, second sentence specifies exactly what that meant