Maria Santos and David Chang represent investigative journalists who ______ institutional secrecy. Their meticulous research and source verification s...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Maria Santos and David Chang represent investigative journalists who ______ institutional secrecy. Their meticulous research and source verification systematically reveals corruption and misconduct that corporate and government entities attempt to conceal.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
exposing
preventing
ignoring
anticipating
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Maria Santos and David Chang represent investigative journalists who' |
|
| [MISSING WORD/PHRASE] |
|
| 'institutional secrecy.' |
|
| 'Their meticulous research and source verification systematically reveals corruption and misconduct that corporate and government entities attempt to conceal.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Maria Santos and David Chang are investigative journalists whose work involves uncovering hidden institutional wrongdoing through careful research.
Argument Flow: The passage introduces two investigative journalists, describes their relationship to institutional secrecy (blank to be filled), then explains how their systematic research methods reveal corruption and misconduct that institutions try to hide.
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 second sentence tells us these journalists use 'meticulous research and source verification' that 'systematically reveals corruption and misconduct that corporate and government entities attempt to conceal.' So these journalists are actively uncovering hidden wrongdoing.
- The relationship between the journalists and 'institutional secrecy' should reflect this active work of uncovering hidden information. Since they reveal things that institutions try to conceal, they are working against secrecy - bringing hidden things into the light.
- So the right answer should describe an action that involves revealing, uncovering, or bringing to light what institutions want to keep hidden.
exposing
✓ Correct
- 'Exposing' means bringing hidden information into the open.
- This perfectly matches how their research 'reveals corruption and misconduct that corporate and government entities attempt to conceal'.
- Creates the logical flow: journalists expose secrets, their research reveals hidden corruption.
preventing
✗ Incorrect
- 'Preventing' means stopping something from happening.
- This does not fit because the passage shows they are actively investigating and revealing information, not trying to stop institutional secrecy from existing.
ignoring
✗ Incorrect
- 'Ignoring' means paying no attention to something.
- This directly contradicts the evidence that they do 'meticulous research' specifically focused on uncovering hidden institutional wrongdoing.
anticipating
✗ Incorrect
- 'Anticipating' means expecting or predicting something.
- This does not match the active, investigative work described - they are not just predicting secrecy, they are actively uncovering specific hidden corruption.