City planner Janet Chen's comprehensive analysis of bike lane implementation demonstrated that reducing street parking spaces to accommodate cycling i...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
City planner Janet Chen's comprehensive analysis of bike lane implementation demonstrated that reducing street parking spaces to accommodate cycling infrastructure consistently ______ local business revenue, with her data from twelve neighborhoods showing increased foot traffic from cyclists more than compensated for any loss in car-based customers.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
threatens
boosts
tracks
regulates
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'City planner Janet Chen's comprehensive analysis of bike lane implementation demonstrated that reducing street parking spaces to accommodate cycling infrastructure consistently' |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| 'local business revenue, with her data from twelve neighborhoods showing increased foot traffic from cyclists more than compensated for any loss in car-based customers.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Janet Chen's research showed that bike lane implementation has a net positive effect on local business revenue because cyclist customers more than make up for lost car-based customers.
Argument Flow: The passage presents Chen's research findings about bike lanes, indicates there's some effect on business revenue (the missing word), then provides the supporting evidence that explains why this effect occurs—cyclists bring in more business than is lost from car customers.
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 we're looking for needs to describe how bike lane implementation affects business revenue
- From our analysis, we know that the evidence shows cyclists bring in more business than is lost from car customers—this means the overall effect is positive
- The phrase 'more than compensated' is key here—it tells us that not only did cyclists make up for lost car customers, but they actually brought in even more business
- So the right answer should indicate that bike lanes have a positive effect on business revenue, making it go up rather than down
threatens
- 'Threatens' suggests bike lanes put business revenue at risk or in danger
- This directly contradicts the evidence that cyclists 'more than compensated' for lost customers
boosts
- 'Boosts' means to increase or improve, which perfectly matches our evidence
- The data shows cyclists brought in more business than was lost, creating a net positive effect
- This aligns exactly with 'more than compensated'—compensation plus extra equals a boost
tracks
- 'Tracks' means to follow, monitor, or measure
- This describes what Chen's analysis did (tracked the effects), not what bike lanes did to revenue
- The sentence structure requires a word describing the effect, not the research method
regulates
- 'Regulates' means to control or manage according to rules
- This doesn't fit the context of describing an impact on business revenue
- The evidence is about quantity of business (more/less), not control or management