Students often struggle to connect emotionally with historical events when learning through traditional textbooks and lectures. New virtual reality ap...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Students often struggle to connect emotionally with historical events when learning through traditional textbooks and lectures. New virtual reality applications are changing this dynamic by creating interactive historical experiences, though current VR technology cannot perfectly replicate all sensory details like temperature, texture, and scent. _____ these applications provide an unprecedented level of engagement that transforms how students relate to the past.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Nevertheless,
For instance,
In summary,
Likewise,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Students often struggle to connect emotionally with historical events when learning through traditional textbooks and lectures.' |
|
| 'New virtual reality applications are changing this dynamic by creating interactive historical experiences,' |
|
| 'though current VR technology cannot perfectly replicate all sensory details like temperature, texture, and scent.' |
|
| '[MISSING TRANSITION]' |
|
| 'these applications provide an unprecedented level of engagement that transforms how students relate to the past.' |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Despite some sensory limitations, VR applications are revolutionizing historical education by providing unprecedented student engagement.
Argument Flow: The passage starts with a problem (students can't connect emotionally with history through traditional methods), introduces a solution (VR applications), acknowledges a limitation of that solution (imperfect sensory replication), but then emphasizes that despite this limitation, VR still provides transformative educational benefits.
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
- Looking at our passage analysis, we need a transition that connects the limitation (VR can't perfectly replicate sensory details) with the positive conclusion (VR still provides unprecedented engagement)
- This creates a contrast relationship - despite the limitation, VR is still highly beneficial
- The logical function we need is: "Even though there's this limitation, the benefit still stands strong"
- This calls for a concession/contrast transition that acknowledges the previous limitation but pivots to emphasize the positive impact anyway
Nevertheless,
- "Nevertheless" creates exactly the contrast relationship we identified
- It acknowledges the limitation about sensory replication but pivots to emphasize that VR still provides unprecedented engagement
- This matches our prethinking perfectly - it's the ideal concession transition
For instance,
- "For instance" would introduce a specific example of something already mentioned
- But we're not providing an example here - we're making a contrasting point about overall benefits
- Trap: Students might think we're giving an example of VR applications, but we're actually making a broader claim about their effectiveness despite limitations
In summary,
- "In summary" signals that we're concluding or wrapping up the entire discussion
- But this sentence isn't summarizing everything - it's making a specific point about engagement that contrasts with the limitation
Likewise,
- "Likewise" shows similarity or agreement with what came before
- But the previous sentence mentioned VR's limitations, and this sentence emphasizes VR's strengths - these are opposite ideas, not similar ones