In the 1970s, video cameras became increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers and gave Ulysses Jenkins and other artists capabilities that...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
In the 1970s, video cameras became increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers and gave Ulysses Jenkins and other artists capabilities that were previously unavailable except to television broadcasters. Jenkins recognized and took full advantage of this ______ access to powerful technology to create groundbreaking works of video art, such as Mass of Images (1978).
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'In the 1970s, video cameras became increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers' |
|
| 'and gave Ulysses Jenkins and other artists capabilities that were previously unavailable except to television broadcasters' |
|
| 'Jenkins recognized and took full advantage of this _____ access to powerful technology' |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The 1970s affordability of video cameras gave artists like Ulysses Jenkins access to powerful technology that enabled them to create innovative video art.
Argument Flow: The passage moves from broad historical context (cameras becoming affordable) to specific impact on artists (gaining new capabilities) to individual achievement (Jenkins creating groundbreaking work).
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 key context clues are that this technology was 'previously unavailable except to television broadcasters' but became 'increasingly affordable for ordinary consumers' in the 1970s
- So Jenkins went from having no access to having access - this represents a change in his situation
- The word should capture that this access was recently acquired or newly obtained, since it wasn't available to artists before this technological shift
- 'Newfound' means recently discovered or acquired
- Perfectly captures that Jenkins gained access he didn't have before - the cameras were 'previously unavailable' to artists, but the 1970s affordability gave him this new access
- Matches our prethinking about recently obtained access
- 'Delicate' means fragile or requiring careful handling
- Doesn't make sense in context - nothing in the passage suggests the access was fragile
- Jenkins 'took full advantage' of the access, which suggests it was robust, not delicate
- 'Inevitable' means certain to happen or unavoidable
- Contradicts the passage context - if the access was inevitable, it wouldn't have been 'previously unavailable except to television broadcasters'
- 'Habitual' means done regularly as a habit
- Makes no sense - you can't have 'habitual access' to technology you just gained
- Contradicts the timeline that this access was newly available in the 1970s