Environmental scientist Dr. Rachel Chen has spent years studying urban air pollution patterns through direct field measurements and data collection....
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Environmental scientist Dr. Rachel Chen has spent years studying urban air pollution patterns through direct field measurements and data collection. She believes that effective environmental advocacy requires both rigorous scientific documentation and strong community engagement. Chen regularly conducts air quality monitoring in neighborhoods near industrial facilities. Additionally, she holds community workshops where residents can learn to interpret pollution data and discuss health concerns with their neighbors. These workshops could therefore serve as _____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
a way for Chen to collect additional air quality data from residents.
subject matter for future environmental research by Chen.
an alternative to Chen's direct field measurement work.
a complement to Chen's scientific work by building community awareness.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Environmental scientist Dr. Rachel Chen has spent years studying urban air pollution patterns through direct field measurements and data collection." |
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| "She believes that effective environmental advocacy requires both rigorous scientific documentation and strong community engagement." |
|
| "Chen regularly conducts air quality monitoring in neighborhoods near industrial facilities." |
|
| "Additionally, she holds community workshops where residents can learn to interpret pollution data and discuss health concerns with their neighbors." |
|
| "These workshops could therefore serve as _____" |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Dr. Chen combines rigorous scientific research with community education to create effective environmental advocacy.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Chen's dual approach to environmental work, first explaining her belief that effective advocacy requires both scientific documentation and community engagement, then showing how she implements this through direct monitoring and educational workshops, leading to an inference about how these workshops function within her overall approach.
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
- From our analysis, we know that Chen believes effective advocacy requires both scientific documentation AND community engagement
- She does scientific monitoring, and she also runs workshops where residents learn to interpret data and discuss health concerns
- The word "therefore" tells us we need to connect these workshops to her overall approach
- The workshops aren't replacing her scientific work - they're happening "additionally"
- They're teaching community members to understand and engage with the scientific information, which directly supports her belief about needing community engagement alongside scientific work
- So the right answer should explain how these workshops complement or support her scientific work by building the community engagement component she believes is essential
a way for Chen to collect additional air quality data from residents.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests the workshops are mainly about Chen collecting more data from residents
- The passage shows workshops are about teaching residents to interpret existing data, not gathering new data from them
subject matter for future environmental research by Chen.
✗ Incorrect
- This implies the workshops themselves would become something Chen studies in future research
- Nothing in the passage suggests Chen plans to research the workshops - they're a tool for community engagement, not a research subject
an alternative to Chen's direct field measurement work.
✗ Incorrect
- This suggests workshops replace her field measurement work
- The passage clearly states workshops happen "additionally" to her monitoring work, not instead of it
- Students might misread the relationship between her two activities, thinking one substitutes for the other rather than both working together
a complement to Chen's scientific work by building community awareness.
✓ Correct
- This directly connects to Chen's stated belief that effective advocacy requires "both rigorous scientific documentation and strong community engagement"
- The workshops build community awareness by teaching residents to interpret pollution data, fulfilling the "community engagement" part of her philosophy
- This complements her scientific monitoring work, creating the dual approach she believes is necessary