The following text is from a legal procedural manual for court clerks.Attorney Rodriguez had always been thorough with case documentation,...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is from a legal procedural manual for court clerks.
Attorney Rodriguez had always been thorough with case documentation, ensuring every motion filed with the court included proper citations—each document marked as either urgent or routine based on statutory requirements.
As used in the text, what does the word 'marked' most nearly mean?
Scratched
Observed
Stained
Classified
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Attorney Rodriguez had always been thorough with case documentation" |
|
| "ensuring every motion filed with the court included proper citations" |
|
| "each document marked as either urgent or routine based on statutory requirements" |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Attorney Rodriguez maintains thorough case documentation by ensuring proper citations and classifying documents according to legal requirements.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Rodriguez as a thorough attorney, then provides two specific examples of this thoroughness: requiring proper citations and using a classification system for documents based on legal requirements.
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 the context, we see that each document was "marked as either urgent or routine based on statutory requirements."
- The key clues are:
- "either urgent or routine" - suggests categorization into different types
- "based on statutory requirements" - suggests a systematic way of organizing according to rules
- So the word "marked" here doesn't mean physically marked like with a pen or stamp, but rather categorized or sorted into different groups.
- The right answer should indicate some form of classification or categorization process.
Scratched
✗ Incorrect
- "Scratched" refers to making physical marks or lines on a surface.
- This doesn't fit the context of organizing documents into categories.
Observed
✗ Incorrect
- "Observed" means to watch or notice something.
- This doesn't make sense with "as either urgent or routine" - you don't observe something AS urgent or routine.
Stained
✗ Incorrect
- "Stained" refers to discoloring or making dirty marks.
- Like "scratched," this is about physical marking rather than organizational categorization.
Classified
✓ Correct
- "Classified" means to organize into categories or groups.
- This perfectly matches the context of sorting documents "as either urgent or routine" and aligns with the systematic approach "based on statutory requirements."