Some residents in a neighborhood in Atlanta recently founded a community garden inside a local park. The residents agreed to...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Some residents in a neighborhood in Atlanta recently founded a community garden inside a local park. The residents agreed to volunteer to take care of the garden together. Students at a local high school surveyed some of the volunteers as part of a project to understand the impact of the new garden. The students concluded that the new garden benefited the community overall by fostering connections and relationships between the volunteers and other residents of the neighborhood who weren't volunteering at the garden.
Which quotation from a survey respondent would best illustrate the students' conclusion?
Our first challenge was deciding what plants would be most suitable to the climate and soil here in Atlanta. We needed plants that could survive the hot and humid summers.
We're lucky to have a few expert gardeners living in the neighborhood. Some volunteers and I have gone to them a few times with questions, and they've been eager to help us and to learn more about the project.
I love getting the opportunity to be outside and around nature, especially on days when the weather is nice.
My favorite thing about the garden is the feeling of pride I get when I walk by each day. As I see the plants growing, I feel good knowing I had a small part in creating this beautiful space in the neighborhood.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Some residents in a neighborhood in Atlanta recently founded a community garden inside a local park." |
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| "The residents agreed to volunteer to take care of the garden together." |
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| "Students at a local high school surveyed some of the volunteers as part of a project to understand the impact of the new garden." |
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| "The students concluded that the new garden benefited the community overall by fostering connections and relationships between the volunteers and other residents of the neighborhood who weren't volunteering at the garden." |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: A student study concluded that a community garden benefits the neighborhood by creating connections between people who volunteer at the garden and residents who don't volunteer there.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the basic facts about a community garden started by Atlanta residents who volunteer to maintain it together. It then introduces a high school research project that surveyed these volunteers. The passage culminates with the students' key finding: the garden's main community benefit comes from fostering relationships between volunteers and non-volunteering neighborhood residents.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
What's being asked? We need to identify which survey quotation would best support or illustrate the students' specific conclusion.
What type of answer do we need? A quotation that demonstrates evidence of connections/relationships forming between garden volunteers and neighborhood residents who don't volunteer at the garden.
Any limiting keywords? "Best illustrate" means we need the strongest, most direct example of the conclusion in action.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The students concluded that the garden creates connections between volunteers and non-volunteers in the neighborhood
- We need a quotation that shows this interaction happening where garden volunteers are somehow connecting with residents who aren't working in the garden itself
- This could be volunteers reaching out to other residents, or other residents getting involved with or interested in the garden project even though they're not volunteering
- The key is that both groups need to be mentioned, and there needs to be some kind of relationship or connection forming between them
Our first challenge was deciding what plants would be most suitable to the climate and soil here in Atlanta. We needed plants that could survive the hot and humid summers.
- Discusses plant selection challenges related to Atlanta's climate
- Only mentions what the volunteers needed to figure out
- No mention of non-volunteering residents or any connections being made
- Focuses purely on gardening logistics, not community relationships
We're lucky to have a few expert gardeners living in the neighborhood. Some volunteers and I have gone to them a few times with questions, and they've been eager to help us and to learn more about the project.
- Shows volunteers going to expert gardeners living in the neighborhood with questions
- These neighborhood experts aren't described as garden volunteers but as separate residents who help
- Describes these experts as eager to help and wanting to learn more about the project
- Perfectly illustrates the conclusion: volunteers connecting with non-volunteering residents, creating relationships around the garden
I love getting the opportunity to be outside and around nature, especially on days when the weather is nice.
- Focuses only on the speaker's personal enjoyment of nature and weather
- No mention of other people, volunteers, or neighborhood residents
- About individual benefits, not community connections
My favorite thing about the garden is the feeling of pride I get when I walk by each day. As I see the plants growing, I feel good knowing I had a small part in creating this beautiful space in the neighborhood.
- Describes personal pride in contributing to neighborhood beautification
- Only mentions the individual volunteer's feelings and role
- No interaction with or mention of non-volunteering residents
- About personal satisfaction, not community relationship-building