The following text is adapted from a business memoir about corporate decision-making. The CEO had been considering a major restructuring...

GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions

Source: Prism

Craft and Structure

Words in Context

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The following text is adapted from a business memoir about corporate decision-making. The CEO had been considering a major restructuring plan for months and had weighed all the options carefully. After consulting extensively with her board of directors, she simply needed to establish the optimal moment for the announcement. Market conditions seemed favorable, and the quarterly earnings report was due the following week.

As used in the text, what does the word "establish" most nearly mean?

Prove

Select

Create

Verify

Solution

Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage

Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table

Text from Passage	Analysis
"The following text is adapted from a business memoir about corporate decision-making."	What it says: Context = business memoir, corp decisions What it does: Provides source background What it is: Context
"The CEO had been considering a major restructuring plan for months and had weighed all the options carefully."	What it says: CEO = months thinking restructuring, weighed options What it does: Introduces the CEO's deliberation process What it is: Background setup
"After consulting extensively with her board of directors, she simply needed to establish the optimal moment for the announcement."	What it says: After board consults just needs to establish timing What it does: Explains what remains to be done What it is: Key statement
"Market conditions seemed favorable, and the quarterly earnings report was due the following week."	What it says: Markets = good, earnings report = next week What it does: Provides timing context for her decision What it is: Supporting details

Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements

Main Point: A CEO who has already decided on a restructuring plan now only needs to determine the best timing for announcing it.

Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely

What's being asked? This is a Words in Context question asking us to determine what establish means specifically as it is used in this passage.

What type of answer do we need? We need to find the choice that best captures the meaning of establish in the phrase she simply needed to establish the optimal moment for the announcement.

Any limiting keywords? Words in Context question focusing on the specific usage of "establish" in context.

Step 3: Prethink the Answer

Looking at our analysis, the CEO has already made all the major decisions
The only task remaining is figuring out when to announce this decision
So establish here means to determine or choose the right timing
The right answer should mean something like determine or choose the optimal timing

Answer Choices Explained

Prove

✗ Incorrect

Prove suggests she needs to demonstrate that a particular moment is optimal
But the passage shows she is trying to figure out the timing, not prove that a specific time is best

Select

✓ Correct

Select perfectly captures what she needs to do - choose the best timing from available options
Fits the context where all major decisions are made and only timing remains

Create

✗ Incorrect

Create suggests she needs to make the optimal moment
But timing opportunities already exist; she does not need to create them

Verify

✗ Incorrect

Verify suggests she needs to confirm that a moment is optimal
But she is still in the decision-making phase, not the confirmation phase

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