The following text is from a 2019 museum catalog describing artifacts recovered from a medieval monastery site in Yorkshire, England....
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is from a 2019 museum catalog describing artifacts recovered from a medieval monastery site in Yorkshire, England.
Fragments of illuminated manuscripts reveal intricate gold lettering and vibrant pigments. Stone carvings display elaborate religious iconography with detailed figurative work. Ceramic vessels show evidence of daily monastic life through their functional designs. Metal implements, including bells and candlesticks, demonstrate the community's liturgical practices. Wooden prayer beads, worn smooth by handling, suggest personal devotional habits. Together, these recovered objects paint a comprehensive picture of both sacred and secular aspects of monastic existence during the 13th century.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It presents a series of artifacts to illustrate various aspects of medieval monastic life.
It categorizes religious objects separately from everyday items found at the site.
It compares medieval craftsmanship techniques across different materials and purposes.
It establishes the site's location and then describes the archaeologists who excavated it.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Fragments of illuminated manuscripts reveal intricate gold lettering and vibrant pigments." |
|
| "Stone carvings display elaborate religious iconography with detailed figurative work." |
|
| "Ceramic vessels show evidence of daily monastic life through their functional designs." |
|
| "Metal implements, including bells and candlesticks, demonstrate the community's liturgical practices." |
|
| "Wooden prayer beads, worn smooth by handling, suggest personal devotional habits." |
|
| "Together, these recovered objects paint a comprehensive picture of both sacred and secular aspects of monastic existence during the 13th century." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Archaeological artifacts from a medieval monastery collectively reveal both the sacred and secular dimensions of 13th-century monastic life.
Argument Flow: The passage systematically presents five different types of artifacts found at the monastery site, explaining what each type reveals about monastic life, then concludes by noting how together they provide a complete picture of both religious and everyday aspects of medieval monastery existence.
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 text follows a clear pattern: it introduces different types of artifacts one by one, explains what each reveals about monastic life, then wraps up by saying how they all work together
- The structure is basically a series of examples that build up to show different aspects of medieval monastery life
It presents a series of artifacts to illustrate various aspects of medieval monastic life.
✓ Correct
- Correctly captures the text's structure of presenting different artifacts (manuscripts, stone carvings, ceramics, metal implements, prayer beads) and identifying that each artifact illustrates different aspects of monastic life
It categorizes religious objects separately from everyday items found at the site.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims the text separates religious from everyday items, but the text presents all artifacts together and concludes they show both sacred and secular aspects mixed together
It compares medieval craftsmanship techniques across different materials and purposes.
✗ Incorrect
- Says the text compares craftsmanship techniques across materials, but the passage doesn't compare techniques - it explains what each type reveals about monastic life
It establishes the site's location and then describes the archaeologists who excavated it.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims the text establishes location then describes archaeologists, but there's no description of archaeologists and this misses the actual structure