Municipal green spaces often face challenges with insufficient use because these areas need adequate pedestrian activity to maintain a secure...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Municipal green spaces often face challenges with insufficient use because these areas need adequate pedestrian activity to maintain a secure and inviting atmosphere while avoiding excessive crowding that makes them unpleasant. Urban designers Rebecca Martinez and James Liu examined multiple community parks across Chicago that had recently incorporated decorative canopy installations. To evaluate whether these additions enhanced park utilization, they analyzed how long visitors remained in the parks prior to the canopy installation compared to afterward. Their findings revealed that mean visit length grew by 58% following the installation of the canopy structures, suggesting that _______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
community parks represent one of the limited public venues that can effectively integrate decorative installations.
decorative canopy installations generate pleasant environmental conditions that motivate visitors to extend their park visits.
canopy installations fail to offer adequate aesthetic appeal to meaningfully influence park usage.
decorative installations may improve park utilization provided the structures maintain appropriate simplicity.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Municipal green spaces often face challenges with insufficient use because these areas need adequate pedestrian activity to maintain a secure and inviting atmosphere while avoiding excessive crowding that makes them unpleasant. |
|
| Urban designers Rebecca Martinez and James Liu examined multiple community parks across Chicago that had recently incorporated decorative canopy installations. |
|
| To evaluate whether these additions enhanced park utilization, they analyzed how long visitors remained in the parks prior to the canopy installation compared to afterward. |
|
| Their findings revealed that mean visit length grew by 58% following the installation of the canopy structures, suggesting that ________ |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: A study found that decorative canopy installations in Chicago parks led to significantly longer visitor stays, suggesting these installations improve park utilization.
Argument Flow: The passage begins by establishing that parks struggle with usage issues, then introduces a study by Martinez and Liu examining whether canopy installations help. The study compared visit lengths before and after installation and found a 58% increase, leading to a conclusion about what this finding suggests.
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 key finding is that visit length increased by 58% after canopy installation
- This is a significant increase that suggests the canopies had a positive impact on visitors' experience
- The right answer should explain why people would stay longer - what the canopies provided that made the parks more appealing or comfortable for extended visits
- The answer should connect the canopy installations to improved park conditions that encourage longer stays
- It shouldn't contradict the positive results or introduce unrelated concepts
community parks represent one of the limited public venues that can effectively integrate decorative installations.
✗ Incorrect
- This choice focuses on parks being one of limited venues for decorative installations
- Doesn't address why visit length increased by 58%
- The passage isn't comparing different types of public venues
decorative canopy installations generate pleasant environmental conditions that motivate visitors to extend their park visits.
✓ Correct
- Directly explains why visit length increased - canopies created pleasant environmental conditions
- Pleasant environmental conditions logically explains why people would stay longer
- Matches our prethinking that canopies improved the park experience
canopy installations fail to offer adequate aesthetic appeal to meaningfully influence park usage.
✗ Incorrect
- Claims canopies fail to offer adequate aesthetic appeal
- Directly contradicts the 58% increase in visit length
- If canopies failed to appeal, visits wouldn't have gotten longer
decorative installations may improve park utilization provided the structures maintain appropriate simplicity.
✗ Incorrect
- Introduces the concept of appropriate simplicity not mentioned in the passage
- Doesn't explain the specific 58% increase in visit length