Many cities worldwide are implementing urban green infrastructure projects to address environmental challenges. These initiatives, such as rooftop gar...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Many cities worldwide are implementing urban green infrastructure projects to address environmental challenges. These initiatives, such as rooftop gardens, permeable sidewalks, and urban forests, provide significant ecological benefits by reducing air pollution, managing stormwater runoff, and creating wildlife habitats. Additionally, these projects improve residents' quality of life through increased recreational spaces and reduced urban heat. However, municipal governments face considerable obstacles in expanding these programs, as green infrastructure requires substantial upfront investment and ongoing maintenance that can strain already limited public budgets.
Which choice best describes the overall structure of the text?
It describes a municipal policy approach and then explains how the approach both provides benefits and creates difficulties for cities.
It presents recent environmental innovations and then suggests potential applications for urban planning.
It discusses a city's successful green project and then analyzes multiple factors that contributed to the project's effectiveness.
It introduces two contrasting environmental strategies and then provides examples of one strategy.
I'll solve this step by step, following the structured approach to help you understand exactly how to tackle text structure questions.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Many cities worldwide are implementing urban green infrastructure projects to address environmental challenges." |
|
| "These initiatives, such as rooftop gardens, permeable sidewalks, and urban forests, provide significant ecological benefits by reducing air pollution, managing stormwater runoff, and creating wildlife habitats." |
|
| "Additionally, these projects improve residents' quality of life through increased recreational spaces and reduced urban heat." |
|
| "However, municipal governments face considerable obstacles in expanding these programs, as green infrastructure requires substantial upfront investment and ongoing maintenance that can strain already limited public budgets." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Cities are implementing beneficial urban green infrastructure projects, but face significant financial challenges in expanding them.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces a municipal policy approach, explains its multiple benefits (both ecological and quality-of-life), then presents the financial difficulties that limit expansion of these beneficial programs.
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 right answer should recognize that the passage introduces a policy approach (green infrastructure), explains benefits of this approach, and shows a contrast with difficulties/challenges cities face
- The structure moves from policy introduction to benefits to challenges
It describes a municipal policy approach and then explains how the approach both provides benefits and creates difficulties for cities.
✓ Correct
- This perfectly captures the structure: introduces urban green infrastructure (municipal policy approach), explains its benefits, then shows difficulties for cities
- Matches our analysis exactly
It presents recent environmental innovations and then suggests potential applications for urban planning.
✗ Incorrect
- Says it presents recent environmental innovations but the passage focuses on policy implementation, not innovations
- Says it suggests potential applications but the passage discusses current implementation
It discusses a city's successful green project and then analyzes multiple factors that contributed to the project's effectiveness.
✗ Incorrect
- Says it discusses a specific city's successful project but the passage discusses many cities' projects generally
- Says it analyzes success factors but it actually explains obstacles to expansion
It introduces two contrasting environmental strategies and then provides examples of one strategy.
✗ Incorrect
- Says it introduces two contrasting strategies but there's only one strategy discussed (green infrastructure)
- The passage doesn't present two different approaches to compare