Art conservators face significant challenges when restoring paintings damaged by environmental factors. To address deterioration in Renaissance fresco...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Art conservators face significant challenges when restoring paintings damaged by environmental factors. To address deterioration in Renaissance frescoes, conservator Maria Gonzalez and her team developed a new consolidation technique that applies hydroxyapatite nanoparticles—a biocompatible mineral used in bone repair—directly to flaking paint layers. This innovative approach has successfully stabilized several major works in Italian museums.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined portion of the text?
It describes a limitation of current restoration methods.
It defines the meaning of a scientific term.
It explains the historical context of the artworks.
It identifies an unexpected outcome of the research.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Art conservators face significant challenges when restoring paintings damaged by environmental factors." |
|
| "To address deterioration in Renaissance frescoes, conservator Maria Gonzalez and her team developed a new consolidation technique" |
|
| "that applies hydroxyapatite nanoparticles—a biocompatible mineral used in bone repair—directly to flaking paint layers." |
|
| "This innovative approach has successfully stabilized several major works in Italian museums." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Art conservators have successfully developed an innovative restoration technique using bone repair minerals to address environmental damage to Renaissance paintings.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a classic problem-solution-results structure. It opens with the broad challenge conservators face, narrows to a specific innovative solution developed by Maria Gonzalez's team, provides technical details about their method, and concludes with evidence of its success in real-world applications.
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 table, the underlined portion "a biocompatible mineral used in bone repair" comes right after the technical term "hydroxyapatite nanoparticles"
- The dashes around this phrase signal that it's providing clarifying information about the scientific term that just appeared
- The right answer should recognize that this portion explains what the technical term means and provides context for readers who might not know this scientific vocabulary
It describes a limitation of current restoration methods.
- This choice focuses on limitations of current methods
- The underlined portion doesn't discuss what's wrong with existing approaches
- It's purely definitional, not evaluative of restoration methods
It defines the meaning of a scientific term.
- The underlined portion directly explains what "hydroxyapatite nanoparticles" means
- Uses the classic definitional structure of dashes around explanatory text
- Matches our prethinking perfectly - it's clarifying scientific terminology
It explains the historical context of the artworks.
- This choice suggests the portion explains when/where the artworks were created
- The underlined text is about a modern scientific material, not Renaissance history
It identifies an unexpected outcome of the research.
- This choice implies the portion reveals surprising research findings
- The underlined text simply defines a term - there's nothing unexpected being reported here