The following text is from a 2020 study on civic engagement. The text describes participants at a town hall meeting....
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is from a 2020 study on civic engagement. The text describes participants at a town hall meeting. During the formal session, residents would stand at the microphone and deliver halting, fragmented comments about local policies, their words seeming to dissolve before reaching their intended meaning. Yet during the informal reception afterward, these same individuals spoke with remarkable clarity and passion about identical issues, their ideas flowing with precision and conviction.
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined portions in the text as a whole?
To highlight the intimidating atmosphere of public forums for community members
To contrast citizens' public communication difficulties with their private eloquence
To demonstrate the inadequate preparation of speakers for town hall meetings
To criticize the formal structure of community engagement sessions
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The following text is from a 2020 study on civic engagement. The text describes participants at a town hall meeting." |
|
| "During the formal session, residents would stand at the microphone and deliver halting, fragmented comments about local policies," |
|
| "their words seeming to dissolve before reaching their intended meaning." |
|
| "Yet during the informal reception afterward, these same individuals spoke with remarkable clarity and passion about identical issues," |
|
| "their ideas flowing with precision and conviction." |
|
Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The same people who struggle to communicate effectively in formal public settings can express themselves clearly and passionately in informal settings when discussing identical issues.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes a research context, then presents a striking contrast between how the same individuals communicate in two different settings.
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 passage sets up a comparison between two different communication contexts involving the same people and topics
- The right answer should recognize that these descriptions work together to highlight a contrast between formal and informal communication settings
To highlight the intimidating atmosphere of public forums for community members
✗ Incorrect
- Focuses only on formal setting being "intimidating" - misses the key contrast between two contexts
To contrast citizens' public communication difficulties with their private eloquence
✓ Correct
- Directly captures the central contrast between "public communication difficulties" and "private eloquence" of the same citizens in different contexts
- This matches the passage structure
To demonstrate the inadequate preparation of speakers for town hall meetings
✗ Incorrect
- Suggests problem is "inadequate preparation" but passage doesn't mention preparation - it's about contextual factors
To criticize the formal structure of community engagement sessions
✗ Incorrect
- Frames passage as "criticizing" formal structure, but passage presents observation, not criticism