Shoppers can help keep money cycling within a community by making purchases at small local businesses instead of large retailers....
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Shoppers can help keep money cycling within a community by making purchases at small local businesses instead of large retailers. Some cities are ________ programs to encourage this behavior, establishing reward points and other incentives for shopping at small businesses.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
instituting
occupying
underestimating
encountering
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Shoppers can help keep money cycling within a community by making purchases at small local businesses instead of large retailers." |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| "programs to encourage this behavior, establishing reward points and other incentives for shopping at small businesses." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Cities are taking action to encourage residents to shop locally by creating incentive programs.
Argument Flow: The passage first establishes why local shopping matters for communities, then describes what cities are doing to promote this behavior through specific reward programs.
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 cities are doing with these programs
- From our analysis, we see that cities are creating or establishing programs that did not exist before
- The word needs to show cities taking active steps to set up these reward systems
- So the right answer should indicate cities are actively creating, establishing, or setting up these programs
instituting
- "Instituting" means establishing or setting up something new
- Perfectly matches our prethinking - cities are actively creating these programs
- Creates logical flow: local shopping helps communities, cities are establishing programs, these programs use rewards/incentives
occupying
- "Occupying" means taking up space or holding a position
- Does not make sense - cities cannot "occupy" programs
- Trap: Students might confuse this with cities being "occupied with" programs, but that is not what "occupying programs" means
underestimating
- "Underestimating" means undervaluing or not fully appreciating
- Creates illogical meaning - if cities underestimated these programs, they would not be establishing rewards and incentives
- Contradicts the positive action described in the rest of the sentence
encountering
- "Encountering" means coming across or meeting something
- Suggests cities are just finding existing programs rather than creating new ones
- Trap: Students might think cities are "encountering" the need for these programs, but the sentence structure requires an action cities are taking with the programs themselves