Archaeological teams working at ancient sites must carefully ______ fragmented remains that have survived for millennia: employing precise excavation ...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Archaeological teams working at ancient sites must carefully ______ fragmented remains that have survived for millennia: employing precise excavation techniques, they methodically reconstruct the daily lives and cultural practices of past civilizations.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
avoiding
replacing
analyzing
storing
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Archaeological teams working at ancient sites must carefully" |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| "fragmented remains that have survived for millennia:" |
|
| "employing precise excavation techniques, they methodically reconstruct the daily lives and cultural practices of past civilizations." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Archaeological teams must carefully work with ancient fragmented remains using precise methods to reconstruct understanding of past civilizations.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes who (archaeological teams), hints at what they must do carefully with ancient remains, then explains their methodology and ultimate goal of reconstructing past cultures. The missing word connects the careful approach to the detailed reconstruction work described.
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 word needs to describe what archaeological teams "must carefully" do with fragmented ancient remains
- The colon that follows suggests the second part of the sentence explains this action - they use precise excavation techniques to methodically reconstruct past civilizations
- So we need a word that: describes careful examination or study of fragmented remains, connects logically to the reconstruction of past civilizations, and makes sense with "must carefully" as a modifier
avoiding
- "Avoiding" means staying away from or not dealing with something
- This contradicts the entire purpose - archaeologists need to work with remains, not avoid them
replacing
- "Replacing" means substituting one thing for another
- Archaeologists don't replace ancient remains - they study the original artifacts
analyzing
- "Analyzing" means carefully examining and studying something in detail
- This perfectly connects careful examination of fragmented remains to reconstructing past civilizations
- The word fits logically with "must carefully" and leads directly to the methodical reconstruction described after the colon
storing
- "Storing" means putting something away for safekeeping
- While archaeologists do store artifacts, this doesn't connect to the reconstruction work described