Contemporary artist Maya Chen has gained international recognition because her installations have been praised for _____ conventional distinctions bet...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Contemporary artist Maya Chen has gained international recognition because her installations have been praised for _____ conventional distinctions between artistic traditions. Chen's latest exhibition features elements drawn from Japanese ikebana, Mexican papel picado, and West African textile patterns, creating works that synthesize techniques and aesthetics from multiple cultural sources.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
bridging
reinforcing
anticipating
documenting
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Contemporary artist Maya Chen has gained international recognition because her installations have been praised for ______ conventional distinctions between artistic traditions.' |
|
| 'Chen's latest exhibition features elements drawn from Japanese ikebana, Mexican papel picado, and West African textile patterns, creating works that synthesize techniques and aesthetics from multiple cultural sources.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Maya Chen has gained recognition for her ability to combine different artistic traditions from multiple cultures into unified works.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Chen's reputation for doing something with conventional artistic boundaries, then provides concrete evidence by describing how her latest exhibition literally combines elements from three different cultural traditions into synthesized works.
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 evidence, Chen combines Japanese, Mexican, and West African elements into unified works that 'synthesize techniques and aesthetics from multiple cultural sources'
- This means she's taking separate artistic traditions and bringing them together rather than keeping them apart
- So the missing word should describe an action that brings together or connects things that are conventionally kept separate
bridging
- 'Bridging' means connecting or spanning across different things
- Perfectly matches how Chen combines elements from Japanese, Mexican, and West African traditions
- Creates the logical relationship: she's praised for connecting traditions that are usually kept separate
reinforcing
- 'Reinforcing' means strengthening or supporting existing structures
- This would mean Chen makes the distinctions between traditions stronger, which contradicts the evidence
- The evidence shows she combines traditions, not separates them further
anticipating
- 'Anticipating' means expecting or predicting something that will happen
- Doesn't create a logical relationship with 'conventional distinctions'
- The evidence is about combining existing traditions, not predicting future ones
documenting
- 'Documenting' means recording or cataloging information
- This would mean Chen just records the differences between traditions
- The evidence shows she actively combines them into new works, not just documents them