Dr. Maria Santos concentrates her expertise on safeguarding ancestral textile creation methods. Ancestral textile creation encompasses producing fabri...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Dr. Maria Santos concentrates her expertise on safeguarding ancestral textile creation methods. Ancestral textile creation encompasses producing fabrics through techniques transmitted across generations, frequently featuring meaningful designs and materials obtained from local sources. Such methods risk disappearing as youth migrate to cities and automated manufacturing gains prominence. Ancestral textile creation supports cultural preservation and offers financial prospects for countryside populations. This cultural importance accounts for why Santos concentrates her studies on native weaving traditions within isolated mountain communities.
Which choice best describes the text's overall structure?
It presents a researcher and outlines her field of expertise.
It describes a cultural tradition and names a researcher who challenges that tradition.
It contrasts the success of two distinct textile creation approaches across time.
It describes a disagreement between ancestral and contemporary methods and explains its resolution.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Dr. Maria Santos concentrates her expertise on safeguarding ancestral textile creation methods.' |
|
| 'Ancestral textile creation encompasses producing fabrics through techniques transmitted across generations, frequently featuring meaningful designs and materials obtained from local sources.' |
|
| 'Such methods risk disappearing as youth migrate to cities and automated manufacturing gains prominence.' |
|
| 'Ancestral textile creation supports cultural preservation and offers financial prospects for countryside populations.' |
|
| 'This cultural importance accounts for why Santos concentrates her studies on native weaving traditions within isolated mountain communities.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The passage introduces Dr. Maria Santos and explains her expertise in preserving ancestral textile creation methods by outlining what these methods are and why they're culturally important.
Argument Flow: The text first introduces Dr. Santos and her area of expertise, then defines ancestral textile creation, presents the challenges it faces, highlights its benefits, and finally connects these benefits back to explain Santos' research focus.
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 our analysis, we can see the text follows a clear pattern: it starts by introducing Dr. Santos as a researcher, then spends the rest of the passage explaining what her field of expertise involves and why it's important
- The text doesn't contrast different approaches, present disagreements, or show Santos challenging anything - instead, it systematically outlines her area of work
It presents a researcher and outlines her field of expertise.
✓ Correct
- This matches our analysis perfectly - the text introduces Dr. Santos and then outlines her field of expertise by defining ancestral textile creation, explaining its risks and benefits
- This captures the overall organization we mapped out
It describes a cultural tradition and names a researcher who challenges that tradition.
✗ Incorrect
- The text describes Santos as someone who 'safeguards' ancestral textile creation, not challenges it
- Santos is working to preserve and protect the tradition, not oppose it
It contrasts the success of two distinct textile creation approaches across time.
✗ Incorrect
- The text doesn't contrast two approaches or their success over time
- It only discusses ancestral methods and the threats they face from modern alternatives
It describes a disagreement between ancestral and contemporary methods and explains its resolution.
✗ Incorrect
- The text mentions that ancestral methods face challenges from modernization, but doesn't describe this as a 'disagreement' and presents no resolution