Many traditional festivals around the world celebrate harvest season with elaborate community gatherings. These events typically bring together entire...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Many traditional festivals around the world celebrate harvest season with elaborate community gatherings. These events typically bring together entire villages for shared meals and ceremonies. But certain festivals take a more contemplative approach. The Japanese Moon Viewing Festival, _____ emphasizes quiet individual reflection over communal celebration.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
meanwhile,
to illustrate,
furthermore,
nevertheless,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Many traditional festivals around the world celebrate harvest season with elaborate community gatherings.' |
|
| 'These events typically bring together entire villages for shared meals and ceremonies.' |
|
| 'But certain festivals take a more contemplative approach.' |
|
| '[MISSING TRANSITION]' |
|
| 'The Japanese Moon Viewing Festival emphasizes quiet individual reflection over communal celebration.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: While most traditional festivals emphasize community celebration, some festivals like the Japanese Moon Viewing Festival take a more contemplative, individual approach.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the typical pattern of communal traditional festivals, then signals a contrast by mentioning that some festivals are more contemplative, and provides the Japanese Moon Viewing Festival as a specific example of this different approach.
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 sentence before the blank says 'certain festivals take a more contemplative approach.'
- Then after the blank, we get a specific festival - the Japanese Moon Viewing Festival - that emphasizes individual reflection.
- The logical relationship here is that the Japanese festival is being presented as an example of those 'contemplative' festivals mentioned in the previous sentence.
- We need a connector that signals 'here's a specific example of what I just told you about.'
meanwhile,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Meanwhile' indicates something happening at the same time as something else.
- This doesn't fit because we're not showing simultaneous events - we're providing a specific example of the contemplative festivals just mentioned.
to illustrate,
✓ Correct
- This phrase explicitly signals that what follows will be a specific example of the general point just made.
- Perfectly matches our analysis - the Japanese festival serves as an illustration of the 'contemplative approach' mentioned in the previous sentence.
furthermore,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Furthermore' adds additional information in the same direction as what came before.
- This doesn't fit because we're not adding more general information about contemplative festivals - we're providing a specific example.
nevertheless,
✗ Incorrect
- 'Nevertheless' indicates contrast or opposition, suggesting something happens despite what was just stated.
- This doesn't make sense because the Japanese festival supports and exemplifies the contemplative approach rather than contradicting it.