Environmental advocate Maria Santos believed that meaningful policy change required working within existing governmental structures, carefully buildin...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Environmental advocate Maria Santos believed that meaningful policy change required working within existing governmental structures, carefully building consensus among lawmakers through diplomatic negotiation and compromise. _____ her colleague Jake preferred direct action approaches, organizing community protests and grassroots mobilization campaigns to pressure officials from outside the system.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Similarly,
However,
Therefore,
Meanwhile,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Environmental advocate Maria Santos believed that meaningful policy change required working within existing governmental structures,' |
|
| 'carefully building consensus among lawmakers through diplomatic negotiation and compromise.' |
|
| '[MISSING TRANSITION]' |
|
| 'her colleague Jake preferred direct action approaches,' |
|
| 'organizing community protests and grassroots mobilization campaigns to pressure officials from outside the system.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Two environmental advocates use completely different strategies—Maria works diplomatically within the system while Jake uses direct action from outside the system.
Argument Flow: The passage presents Maria's diplomatic, inside-the-system approach first, then introduces Jake's contrasting direct-action, outside-the-system approach. The missing transition needs to signal this shift from one opposing strategy to another.
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 transition must show contrast because Maria and Jake have opposing approaches—she works inside the system, he works outside it
- The right answer should indicate contrast or opposition between Maria's diplomatic approach and Jake's direct action approach
Similarly,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Similarly' suggests Jake's approach resembles Maria's approach
- This contradicts the clear contrast between working inside vs. outside the system
However,
✓ Correct
- 'However' signals contrast, which perfectly matches the relationship between Maria's diplomatic inside approach and Jake's direct action outside approach
Therefore,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Therefore' suggests Jake's approach is a result from Maria's approach
- The passage shows two independent, contrasting strategies, not cause-and-effect
Meanwhile,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Meanwhile' suggests simultaneous actions but doesn't emphasize the contrast
- The key relationship is opposition, not just timing