The following text is adapted from Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring, discussing agricultural pesticide use."Chemical pesticides, once considere...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is adapted from Rachel Carson's 1962 book Silent Spring, discussing agricultural pesticide use.
"Chemical pesticides, once considered revolutionary solutions, have proven insufficient for sustainable farming. These methods no longer address the complex ecological relationships that healthy agriculture requires."
As used in the text, what does the word "address" most nearly mean?
Speaks to
Handles
Confronts
Targets
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Chemical pesticides, once considered revolutionary solutions," |
|
| "have proven insufficient for sustainable farming." |
|
| "These methods no longer address the complex ecological relationships" |
|
| "that healthy agriculture requires." |
|
Main Point: Chemical pesticides, despite being once seen as groundbreaking, are inadequate because they fail to handle the complex ecological relationships essential for sustainable farming.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? This is a Words in Context question asking us to determine what "address" most nearly means in the specific context of this passage.
What type of answer do we need? The right answer should mean something like "handle," "deal with," or "manage."
Any limiting keywords? Looking at our passage analysis, "address" appears in the context of pesticides being unable to deal with ecological relationships.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- Looking at our passage analysis, "address" appears in the context of pesticides being unable to deal with ecological relationships
- The right answer should mean something like "handle," "deal with," or "manage"
Speaks to
- This suggests communication, but the passage requires action/management, not communication
Handles
- Means to manage or deal with something
- Fits perfectly with pesticides being unable to properly manage complex ecological relationships
Confronts
- Suggests facing something as an opponent, but the passage is about management ability, not opposition
Targets
- Means to aim at something specific, but the sentence is about inability to manage relationships, not targeting ability