The National Heritage Fellowship was created to publicly ________ exceptional folk and traditional artists in the United States. In 2015,...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The National Heritage Fellowship was created to publicly ________ exceptional folk and traditional artists in the United States. In 2015, the fellowship was given to the circus aerialist (mid-air acrobat) Dolly Jacobs to celebrate her lifetime contributions to the arts.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The National Heritage Fellowship was created to publicly ______ exceptional folk and traditional artists in the United States." |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| "In 2015, the fellowship was given to the circus aerialist (mid-air acrobat) Dolly Jacobs to celebrate her lifetime contributions to the arts." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The National Heritage Fellowship is a program that publicly honors exceptional folk and traditional artists, as demonstrated by Dolly Jacobs receiving it in 2015.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the general purpose of the National Heritage Fellowship program, then provides a specific example of how this purpose was carried out when Dolly Jacobs received the fellowship in 2015 to celebrate her artistic contributions.
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 missing word needs to describe what the fellowship was created to do publicly to exceptional artists
- Based on our analysis, the fellowship is clearly a positive program - it "celebrates" artists' contributions and honors them
- The word should: reflect the fellowship's positive, honoring nature; make sense with "publicly" (something you can do publicly); connect logically to the example where Dolly Jacobs was celebrated for her contributions
- "Startle" means to surprise or shock someone suddenly
- Makes no sense in context - why would a fellowship program be created to publicly shock artists?
- Completely contradicts the celebratory tone established by the Dolly Jacobs example
- "Recognize" means to publicly acknowledge or honor someone's achievements
- Perfectly matches the fellowship's purpose as shown in the example
- Creates logical flow: fellowship created to publicly honor artists → example of Dolly Jacobs being honored for her contributions
- "Familiarize" means to make someone acquainted with something
- Doesn't fit the sentence structure - you familiarize someone WITH something, not just "familiarize someone"
- Students might think this relates to making the public familiar with these artists, but the grammar doesn't work
- "Convey" means to communicate or transport something
- Incomplete without an object - convey what to the artists?
- Doesn't match the celebratory, honoring purpose shown in the example