Despite stated claims of global relevance, much major research on income inequality performed in the 2010s suffered from a myopic...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Despite stated claims of global relevance, much major research on income inequality performed in the 2010s suffered from a myopic focus on a few countries in North America and Western Europe, partly due to limited data availability. Researchers would later _____ this shortcoming after gaining new access to banking records located in nations in Africa, such as Tunisia, and Eastern Europe, such as Hungary.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
presuppose
categorize
mitigate
validate
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Despite stated claims of global relevance, much major research on income inequality performed in the 2010s suffered from a myopic focus on a few countries in North America and Western Europe, partly due to limited data availability. |
|
| Researchers would later |
|
| this shortcoming after gaining new access to banking records located in nations in Africa, such as Tunisia, and Eastern Europe, such as Hungary. |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Research on income inequality initially had geographic limitations that researchers later addressed by accessing data from previously underrepresented regions.
Argument Flow: The passage first establishes a limitation in income inequality research - despite claims of global relevance, studies focused narrowly on North America and Western Europe due to data constraints. It then describes how researchers later took action to address this geographic bias by accessing banking records from Africa and Eastern Europe.
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
- Based on our passage analysis, the researchers had a problem (narrow geographic focus) and later gained access to new data from underrepresented regions
- The logical relationship here is that they took some action to address or fix the shortcoming
- The word should indicate they did something to reduce, address, or remedy the problem
- Key elements the correct answer must have:
- Shows action taken to address a problem/shortcoming
- Indicates improvement or reduction of the limitation
- Makes logical sense with "after gaining new access" - the new data enabled them to take this action
presuppose
✗ Incorrect
- "Presuppose" means to assume something beforehand
- This does not make logical sense - researchers would not assume a shortcoming after gaining new data
- The sentence structure suggests they took action to address the problem, not make assumptions about it
categorize
✗ Incorrect
- "Categorize" means to put things into groups or classes
- While researchers might categorize their new data, they would not categorize a shortcoming
- This does not address the logical flow of problem to action to fix problem
mitigate
✓ Correct
- "Mitigate" means to reduce or lessen the severity of something
- This perfectly fits the logical flow: researchers had a shortcoming (narrow focus) and later reduced it by accessing broader data
- The new banking records from Africa and Eastern Europe would indeed help mitigate the geographic limitation
validate
✗ Incorrect
- "Validate" means to confirm or prove the accuracy of something
- Researchers would not validate a shortcoming - they would want to fix it, not confirm it
- This creates illogical meaning in context