The following text is adapted from a 2018 biography of labor organizer Dolores Huerta. Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is adapted from a 2018 biography of labor organizer Dolores Huerta. Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association in the 1960s.
Many people in Huerta's middle-class community questioned her decision to leave a stable teaching position to work with migrant farmworkers. They viewed her choice as impractical, especially since she was a single mother raising eleven children. Despite the financial uncertainty this created for her family, Huerta would drive hundreds of miles each week to visit labor camps throughout California's Central Valley. She spent countless hours listening to workers describe their living conditions, documenting their stories in detailed notebooks, believing that these individual accounts would eventually build the foundation for systemic change in agricultural labor practices.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole?
It establishes that Huerta's advocacy work was motivated by a commitment to creating lasting social reform.
It describes the specific methods Huerta used to gather information about worker conditions.
It explains why members of Huerta's community found her career change difficult to understand.
It emphasizes the extensive travel requirements that Huerta's organizing work demanded.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Many people in Huerta's middle-class community questioned her decision to leave a stable teaching position to work with migrant farmworkers.' |
|
| 'They viewed her choice as impractical, especially since she was a single mother raising eleven children.' |
|
| 'Despite the financial uncertainty this created for her family, Huerta would drive hundreds of miles each week to visit labor camps throughout California's Central Valley.' |
|
| 'She spent countless hours listening to workers describe their living conditions, documenting their stories in detailed notebooks, believing that these individual accounts would eventually build the foundation for systemic change in agricultural labor practices.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Visual Structure Map:
[COMMUNITY SKEPTICISM] → Decision questioned (teaching → farmwork advocacy) → Viewed as impractical (single mom, 11 kids) → [HUERTA'S COMMITMENT DESPITE OBSTACLES] → Drove hundreds of miles weekly → Listened & documented stories → Believed in systemic change
Main Point: Despite community skepticism about the practicality of her career change, Huerta remained committed to farmworker advocacy because she believed documenting individual worker experiences would lead to systemic reform.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the skepticism Huerta faced from her community, then contrasts this with her unwavering commitment to the work. It moves from external judgment to her internal motivation, showing that her dedication stemmed from a belief in creating lasting change through documenting individual stories.
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 underlined sentence does several things: it shows Huerta's specific methods (listening, documenting), but more importantly, it reveals her underlying motivation - she believed these individual stories would create systemic change
- This is crucial because the passage has been building up the contrast between community skepticism and her commitment
- The sentence explains WHY she was so committed despite the practical concerns raised earlier
- The key elements the correct answer must have:
- Recognition that the sentence reveals Huerta's motivation or purpose
- Connection to the idea of lasting/systemic change rather than just immediate help
- Understanding that this explains her dedication mentioned earlier in the passage
- The right answer should explain that this sentence reveals Huerta's underlying motivation for her advocacy work - her belief in creating lasting systemic change
It establishes that Huerta's advocacy work was motivated by a commitment to creating lasting social reform.
✓ Correct
- Accurately captures that the sentence reveals Huerta's motivation
- 'Commitment to creating lasting social reform' perfectly matches the sentence's emphasis on 'systemic change in agricultural labor practices'
- Connects to the broader passage by explaining WHY she persisted despite community skepticism
It describes the specific methods Huerta used to gather information about worker conditions.
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses only on the methods (listening, documenting) while missing the crucial motivation element
- Doesn't capture the sentence's key point about her belief in systemic change
- What trap this represents: Students might focus on the concrete actions described rather than the deeper purpose revealed
It explains why members of Huerta's community found her career change difficult to understand.
✗ Incorrect
- Completely misidentifies the sentence's function - this sentence doesn't explain community skepticism at all
- The community's concerns were already explained in earlier sentences
- Gets the direction backward - this sentence is about Huerta's perspective, not the community's
It emphasizes the extensive travel requirements that Huerta's organizing work demanded.
✗ Incorrect
- While travel is mentioned in the previous sentence, this underlined sentence doesn't emphasize travel requirements
- Misses the main point about her belief in systemic change
- What trap this represents: Students might confuse details from adjacent sentences or focus on less important elements