While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:Sourdough bread production begins with creating a starter culture that...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Sourdough bread production begins with creating a starter culture that captures wild yeast from the environment.
- Day 1-7: Flour and water mixture sits exposed to air, allowing wild yeast and beneficial bacteria to establish a colony.
- Day 8: The active starter is combined with fresh flour, water, and salt to form the bread dough.
- Hours 1-6: Bulk fermentation occurs as wild yeast consumes starches and produces carbon dioxide, creating the dough's airy structure.
- Final stage: After shaping, the dough rests for 2-4 hours before baking transforms it into finished bread.
The student wants to describe the role of wild yeast in sourdough production. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Wild yeast captured in a starter culture consumes starches during bulk fermentation to produce carbon dioxide, creating the bread's airy structure before final baking.
In sourdough production, wild yeast establishes colonies in flour and water over several days, then combines with additional ingredients during bulk fermentation.
Sourdough relies on wild yeast that forms colonies in a starter culture and produces gas bubbles, with final shaping and resting before baking.
Wild yeast in sourdough production creates colonies in flour and water, undergoes bulk fermentation, then rests before being transformed by baking.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Sourdough bread production begins with creating a starter culture that captures wild yeast from the environment.' |
|
| 'Day 1-7: Flour and water mixture sits exposed to air, allowing wild yeast and beneficial bacteria to establish a colony.' |
|
| 'Day 8: The active starter is combined with fresh flour, water, and salt to form the bread dough.' |
|
| 'Hours 1-6: Bulk fermentation occurs as wild yeast consumes starches and produces carbon dioxide, creating the dough's airy structure.' |
|
| 'Final stage: After shaping, the dough rests for 2-4 hours before baking transforms it into finished bread.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The notes outline the complete sourdough production process, from capturing wild yeast to create a starter through the fermentation process that gives bread its characteristic texture.
Argument Flow: The notes present a chronological sequence showing how sourdough production starts with establishing wild yeast colonies over a week, then moves through dough formation and the critical bulk fermentation phase where yeast creates the bread's structure.
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 focus on the yeast's core function - being captured in a starter
- Then consuming starches to produce CO2 that creates the bread's airy structure during bulk fermentation
Wild yeast captured in a starter culture consumes starches during bulk fermentation to produce carbon dioxide, creating the bread's airy structure before final baking.
✓ Correct
Captures the complete functional sequence: wild yeast captured in starter → consumes starches during bulk fermentation → produces CO2 → creates airy structure → before final baking
In sourdough production, wild yeast establishes colonies in flour and water over several days, then combines with additional ingredients during bulk fermentation.
✗ Incorrect
Focuses mainly on timeline and process steps but misses the key functional mechanism of starch consumption and CO2 production
Sourdough relies on wild yeast that forms colonies in a starter culture and produces gas bubbles, with final shaping and resting before baking.
✗ Incorrect
Mentions gas bubbles but doesn't explain the mechanism that produces them or the resulting airy structure
Wild yeast in sourdough production creates colonies in flour and water, undergoes bulk fermentation, then rests before being transformed by baking.
✗ Incorrect
Misrepresents the process by making it sound like the yeast undergoes fermentation rather than causing it