GlobalTech's expansion strategy aims to establish the company's presence in emerging markets worldwide. The initiative _____ four continents, with new...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
GlobalTech's expansion strategy aims to establish the company's presence in emerging markets worldwide. The initiative _____ four continents, with new offices planned for locations in South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
avoids
scrutinizes
covers
abandons
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "GlobalTech's expansion strategy aims to establish the company's presence in emerging markets worldwide." |
|
| "The initiative _____ four continents," |
|
| "with new offices planned for locations in South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: GlobalTech is implementing an expansion strategy that involves establishing offices across four different continents.
Argument Flow: The passage sets up GlobalTech's expansion goal, then describes how this initiative relates to four continents, and finally provides concrete evidence by listing the specific continental locations where offices are planned.
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 need a word that describes the relationship between GlobalTech's initiative and the four continents
- The sentence tells us that new offices are planned for South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia
- So the initiative must somehow relate to or include these four continents
- The logical relationship here is that the initiative spans across or encompasses these four continents
avoids
✗ Incorrect
- "Avoids" means to stay away from or prevent contact with something
- This creates the opposite meaning - if they're planning new offices in these continents, they're clearly not avoiding them
scrutinizes
✗ Incorrect
- "Scrutinizes" means to examine something closely and carefully
- While companies might scrutinize markets before expansion, this doesn't fit the logical flow of the sentence
covers
✓ Correct
- "Covers" means to extend over or include within scope
- This perfectly matches our prethinking - the initiative covers/spans four continents
- The evidence supports this: they're establishing offices across South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia
abandons
✗ Incorrect
- "Abandons" means to give up or leave behind
- This contradicts the entire passage context about expansion and establishing new offices