Tech support specialists have reported that certain applications will update themselves when connected to the internet, downloading patches and improv...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
Tech support specialists have reported that certain applications will update themselves when connected to the internet, downloading patches and improvements ______. However, users have discovered that these automatic updates can sometimes resolve long-standing software issues.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
manually
reluctantly
automatically
selectively
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Tech support specialists have reported that certain applications will update themselves when connected to the internet, downloading patches and improvements" |
|
| [MISSING WORD] |
|
| "However, users have discovered that these automatic updates can sometimes resolve long-standing software issues." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Applications that update themselves online not only download improvements in a certain manner, but users have also found these updates can fix existing software problems.
Argument Flow: The passage starts with tech support specialists observing that apps update themselves and download improvements in some manner. Then it adds that users discovered an additional benefit - these same automatic updates can resolve long-standing issues.
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 analysis, we need a word that describes HOW applications download patches and improvements
- The key context clues are: Applications update themselves, this happens when connected to the internet, and the next sentence calls them automatic updates
- The missing word should describe the manner in which this downloading happens without human intervention
manually
- This directly contradicts the passage's description of apps that update themselves
- Manual downloading would require human intervention
reluctantly
- This describes an emotional attitude that software cannot have
- Makes no logical sense in the context of software behavior
automatically
- Perfectly matches update themselves - both describe actions happening without human intervention
- Consistent with the next sentence's reference to automatic updates
selectively
- While this could describe software behavior, it doesn't address the key concept of self-updating
- Misses the main point about the automated nature of the process