Many entrepreneurs entering the smartphone app market in 2010 expected to achieve rapid success with simple gaming applications, believing that...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Many entrepreneurs entering the smartphone app market in 2010 expected to achieve rapid success with simple gaming applications, believing that viral popularity would translate directly into sustained profits. _____ the vast majority discovered that building a profitable app business required sophisticated marketing strategies, continuous user engagement, and substantial ongoing investment.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
However,
Therefore,
Additionally,
Subsequently,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Many entrepreneurs entering the smartphone app market in 2010 expected to achieve rapid success with simple gaming applications, believing that viral popularity would translate directly into sustained profits.' |
|
| [MISSING TRANSITION] |
|
| 'the vast majority discovered that building a profitable app business required sophisticated marketing strategies, continuous user engagement, and substantial ongoing investment.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Entrepreneurs entering the smartphone app market in 2010 had overly optimistic expectations that were contradicted by the complex reality of building profitable app businesses.
Argument Flow: The passage sets up entrepreneurs' initial expectations of easy success through viral gaming apps, then reveals the contrasting reality that most discovered that profitable app businesses actually require sophisticated strategies and substantial investment.
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 passage analysis, we need a transition that shows the relationship between entrepreneurs' expectations and what they actually discovered
- The first part presents their optimistic expectations (easy success, viral popularity equals profits), while the second part reveals the harsh reality (need sophisticated marketing, continuous engagement, substantial investment)
- This is clearly a contrast relationship
- The connector needs to signal that what follows contradicts or opposes what came before
- So the right answer should be a contrasting transition that shows the difference between expectations and reality
However,
✓ Correct
- 'However' signals contrast, which perfectly matches the relationship we identified
- Creates the logical flow: entrepreneurs expected X, however they discovered Y
- Shows the opposition between optimistic expectations and challenging reality
Therefore,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Therefore' indicates cause-and-effect or logical conclusion
- Would suggest that discovering the need for sophisticated strategies was a result of expecting easy success
- Trap: Students might choose this if they think the discovery naturally follows from the expectations, missing that this is actually a contradiction
Additionally,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Additionally' suggests adding more information in the same direction
- Would imply that needing sophisticated strategies is extra information supporting the idea of easy success
- Creates an illogical flow since the second part contradicts rather than supports the first
Subsequently,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Subsequently' indicates a time sequence (what happened next)
- While this might seem logical since the discovery came after the expectations, it misses the crucial contrast relationship
- Trap: Students might focus on the chronological aspect but miss that the key relationship is opposition, not just sequence