Rachel Carson's 1962 publication of Silent Spring fundamentally altered American environmental consciousness. Scholars of environmental policy contend...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Rachel Carson's 1962 publication of Silent Spring fundamentally altered American environmental consciousness. Scholars of environmental policy contend that her detailed documentation of pesticide dangers ______ public awareness about ecological threats, ultimately leading to landmark legislation like the Clean Air Act.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
awakened
confused
suppressed
redirected
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Rachel Carson's 1962 publication of Silent Spring fundamentally altered American environmental consciousness.' |
|
| 'Scholars of environmental policy contend that her detailed documentation of pesticide dangers' |
|
| 'public awareness about ecological threats,' |
|
| 'ultimately leading to landmark legislation like the Clean Air Act.' |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Rachel Carson's Silent Spring transformed environmental consciousness by affecting public awareness of ecological threats, leading to important environmental legislation.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Carson's impact, explains how scholars view her work as affecting public awareness, which resulted in environmental laws. The missing piece is how her documentation specifically affected public awareness.
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 right answer should show how Carson's detailed documentation affected public awareness
- Given the positive context ('fundamentally altered consciousness' and 'landmark legislation'), the word should indicate Carson brought awareness that wasn't sufficiently there before
- Creating a transformation that led to legislative action
awakened
awakened
✓ Correct
- Shows Carson brought public awareness to life about ecological threats
- Matches the positive transformation described
- Creates logical flow: documentation → awakened awareness → legislation
- Suggests people weren't fully aware before, explaining why new legislation followed
confused
confused
✗ Incorrect
- Would mean Carson made public awareness unclear about threats
- Confused awareness wouldn't logically lead to effective legislation
- Contradicts the positive impact narrative
suppressed
suppressed
✗ Incorrect
- Would mean Carson held back public awareness
- Opposite of what's needed - suppressed awareness couldn't lead to legislation
- Contradicts the transformative impact described
redirected
redirected
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests changing direction of existing awareness rather than creating new awareness
- Doesn't capture the groundbreaking nature of Carson's work
- Students might choose this thinking Carson changed environmental perspectives, but the passage suggests she created awareness where insufficient awareness existed before