After months of financial struggle, tech entrepreneur Marcus Williams saw his software company finally achieve profitability in late 2018. ______...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
After months of financial struggle, tech entrepreneur Marcus Williams saw his software company finally achieve profitability in late 2018. ______ the company began expanding its development team and investing in new product features to capitalize on this newfound financial stability.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
In contrast,
For example,
Similarly,
Subsequently,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| After months of financial struggle, tech entrepreneur Marcus Williams saw his software company finally achieve profitability in late 2018. |
|
| [MISSING TRANSITION] |
|
| the company began expanding its development team and investing in new product features to capitalize on this newfound financial stability. |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Marcus Williams's software company responded to achieving profitability by expanding and investing to build on their newfound financial stability.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a clear sequence - first establishing months of financial struggle, then noting the achievement of profitability as a turning point, and finally describing how the company used this new financial stability to expand and invest in growth.
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 missing transition needs to connect the company achieving profitability with the company then taking expansion actions
- From our analysis, we can see this is a temporal sequence where one event leads to another
- The company first became profitable, and then as a result of that financial stability, they took action to expand
- So the right answer should indicate that the expansion actions followed the profitability achievement in time, showing a logical progression from the financial turning point to the growth activities
In contrast,
- In contrast signals opposition or difference
- This doesn't work because the expansion actions are not contrasting with achieving profitability - they're a logical response to it
- What trap this represents: Students might think this works if they see struggle versus expansion as contrasts, but the contrast is actually between the earlier struggle and the later profitability, not between profitability and expansion
For example,
- For example introduces a specific instance of something general
- The expansion activities aren't an example of profitability - they're actions taken because of profitability
- This creates an illogical relationship between the two sentences
Similarly,
- Similarly suggests the second action resembles the first
- Expanding a team isn't similar to achieving profitability - these are completely different types of events
- This would create a confusing comparison rather than showing the logical flow
Subsequently,
- Subsequently indicates that something follows in time sequence
- This perfectly captures the relationship: first profitability was achieved, then (subsequently) the company took expansion actions
- This matches our prethinking about needing a connector that shows temporal progression