The Illustrated History of San Mateo County, published in 1878, features several illustrations by Grafton Tyler Brown showing the California...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The Illustrated History of San Mateo County, published in 1878, features several illustrations by Grafton Tyler Brown showing the California county's farms, residences, and businesses. It was ________ for a business to be featured, since being included suggested that a business was an important part of the community.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
risky
misleading
advantageous
unremarkable
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The Illustrated History of San Mateo County, published in 1878, features several illustrations by Grafton Tyler Brown showing the California county's farms, residences, and businesses." |
|
| "[MISSING WORD]" |
|
| "for a business to be featured, since being included suggested that a business was an important part of the community." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Being featured in this 1878 illustrated history carried some significance for businesses because inclusion indicated community importance.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes the context of a historical publication featuring local businesses, then suggests that being included had some particular quality for those businesses, with the reasoning being that inclusion implied the business was considered an important community member.
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
- From our analysis, we know that being featured in this book suggested a business was "an important part of the community."
- So the missing word should describe what it would be like for a business to gain this kind of recognition and status.
- The right answer should indicate that being featured was beneficial or positive for a business, since gaining recognition as an important community member would clearly be a good thing for any business.
risky
- "Risky" suggests being featured could cause problems or danger.
- This contradicts the passage's logic - if being featured showed community importance, it would be beneficial, not risky.
misleading
- "Misleading" suggests the illustrations gave false impressions.
- The passage indicates that being featured accurately reflected a business's community importance.
advantageous
- "Advantageous" means beneficial or helpful.
- This perfectly matches our prethinking - if being featured showed community importance, it would clearly benefit the business.
unremarkable
- "Unremarkable" means ordinary or not worth noting.
- This contradicts the reasoning given - if being featured suggested community importance, it would be quite remarkable, not ordinary.