While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Academic conferences are scholarly meetings where researchers present their work.Sp...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Academic conferences are scholarly meetings where researchers present their work.
- Specialized conferences focus on narrow subfields and typically attract 50-100 participants.
- The Modern Language Association annual convention draws over 8,000 attendees from multiple disciplines within language and literature studies.
- Small workshop conferences might have only 15-30 participants discussing highly specific research questions.
- Large interdisciplinary conferences can accommodate 15,000+ participants across dozens of academic fields.
The student wants to make a generalization about academic conferences. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Academic conferences vary dramatically in scale, from intimate workshops of a few dozen participants to massive interdisciplinary gatherings of thousands.
Examples of academic conferences include specialized meetings with 50-100 participants and the MLA convention with over 8,000 attendees.
While small workshop conferences have only 15-30 participants, large interdisciplinary conferences can accommodate over 15,000.
The Modern Language Association convention, with over 8,000 attendees, is much larger than specialized conferences with 50-100 participants.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Academic conferences are scholarly meetings where researchers present their work.' |
|
| 'Specialized conferences focus on narrow subfields and typically attract 50-100 participants.' |
|
| 'The Modern Language Association annual convention draws over 8,000 attendees from multiple disciplines within language and literature studies.' |
|
| 'Small workshop conferences might have only 15-30 participants discussing highly specific research questions.' |
|
| 'Large interdisciplinary conferences can accommodate 15,000+ participants across dozens of academic fields.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Academic conferences vary dramatically in size depending on their focus and scope.
Argument Flow: The notes begin with a basic definition of academic conferences, then provide a range of specific examples that demonstrate the dramatic variation in conference size, from small workshops with just 15-30 participants to massive interdisciplinary gatherings of 15,000 or more attendees.
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
- Looking at our analysis, the most striking pattern in these notes is the enormous range in conference sizes - from tiny workshops with 15-30 people to massive gatherings with 15,000+ attendees
- A good generalization should capture this dramatic variation in scale as a key characteristic of academic conferences
Academic conferences vary dramatically in scale, from intimate workshops of a few dozen participants to massive interdisciplinary gatherings of thousands.
- This makes a true generalization about academic conferences - that they 'vary dramatically in scale'
- Captures the full range from intimate workshops to massive interdisciplinary gatherings
- Uses generalizing language rather than just listing specific examples
Examples of academic conferences include specialized meetings with 50-100 participants and the MLA convention with over 8,000 attendees.
- Simply lists two specific examples rather than making a generalization
- Uses 'examples include' language, which is descriptive rather than generalizing
While small workshop conferences have only 15-30 participants, large interdisciplinary conferences can accommodate over 15,000.
- Makes a comparison between two specific types but doesn't state the generalization
- Uses 'while...can accommodate' structure that contrasts rather than generalizes
The Modern Language Association convention, with over 8,000 attendees, is much larger than specialized conferences with 50-100 participants.
- Compares two specific conferences rather than making a broad statement
- Focuses only on MLA vs specialized conferences, ignoring the other examples