Last month I received the Outstanding Student Achievement Award at our school's honors ceremony. Everyone expected me to be thrilled....
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Last month I received the Outstanding Student Achievement Award at our school's honors ceremony. Everyone expected me to be thrilled. My parents beamed with pride in the auditorium. My teachers nodded approvingly as I walked across the stage. But the gold medallion felt heavy around my neck. The recognition seemed to demand something from me that I wasn't ready to give. The award stared back at me from my desk each morning, a constant reminder of expectations I never asked for.
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
It reveals the student's conflicted feelings about receiving academic recognition.
It describes the ceremony where the student received an important award.
It explains why the student's parents attended the honors ceremony.
It suggests that the student had been working toward this particular award.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Last month I received the Outstanding Student Achievement Award at our school's honors ceremony." |
|
| "Everyone expected me to be thrilled." |
|
| "My parents beamed with pride in the auditorium. My teachers nodded approvingly as I walked across the stage." |
|
| "But the gold medallion felt heavy around my neck." |
|
| "The recognition seemed to demand something from me that I wasn't ready to give." |
|
| "The award stared back at me from my desk each morning, a constant reminder of expectations I never asked for." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The student feels conflicted and burdened by receiving academic recognition that others celebrate.
Argument Flow: The passage opens by establishing that the student received a prestigious award and that everyone around him expected celebration. However, it quickly shifts to reveal his internal reality—the award feels heavy and demanding, creating unwanted expectations that burden him daily. The structure moves from external celebration to internal conflict.
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 correct answer should capture the central tension in this passage—that the student has complicated, negative feelings about receiving recognition that everyone else celebrates
- The passage isn't mainly about describing the ceremony or explaining why people attended
- It's about revealing this internal conflict between what others expect the student to feel versus what he actually feels
- The right answer should acknowledge both the recognition itself and the student's conflicted response to it
- The right answer should focus on the student's internal struggle with receiving academic recognition
It reveals the student's conflicted feelings about receiving academic recognition.
- Captures both key elements: the academic recognition and the student's conflicted feelings
- "Conflicted feelings" perfectly matches the contrast between others' expectations and the student's actual experience
- Aligns with our passage analysis showing the movement from external celebration to internal burden
It describes the ceremony where the student received an important award.
- Focuses only on describing the ceremony itself
- Misses the main point about the student's internal conflict
- The ceremony details are just context, not the central purpose
It explains why the student's parents attended the honors ceremony.
- Extremely narrow focus on just the parents' attendance
- Completely ignores the student's feelings, which are the heart of the passage
- Parents attending is mentioned in one detail, not the main purpose
It suggests that the student had been working toward this particular award.
- Suggests the student was actively pursuing this award
- Contradicts the passage's emphasis on "expectations I never asked for"
- What trap this represents: Students might assume that receiving an award means you worked toward it, but the passage actually suggests the opposite—these are unwanted expectations