The phasing out of steam locomotive technology by 1970 left several commuter rail lines in the northeastern United States unusable...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The phasing out of steam locomotive technology by 1970 left several commuter rail lines in the northeastern United States unusable for daily travel. As transportation historian Marcus Chen notes, these 1950s and 1960s rail systems had depended entirely on _____ steam technology that railroad companies ultimately abandoned.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
innovative
obsolete
widespread
supplementary
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'The phasing out of steam locomotive technology by 1970 left several commuter rail lines in the northeastern United States unusable for daily travel.' |
|
| 'As transportation historian Marcus Chen notes, these 1950s and 1960s rail systems had depended entirely on' |
|
| 'steam technology that railroad companies ultimately abandoned.' |
|
Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: The abandonment of a particular type of steam technology left commuter rail systems unusable because they had been entirely dependent on it.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a problem (unusable rail lines) and then provides the historical explanation through an expert's perspective about the complete dependency on steam technology that was ultimately abandoned.
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 word must describe steam technology that was used by 1950s and 1960s rail systems, that railroad companies ultimately abandoned, and whose abandonment made rail lines unusable
- The logical relationship suggests the technology had some quality that made companies want to abandon it
- Since abandoning it caused problems, the technology must have been outdated or no longer viable
innovative
innovative
- Describes the technology as new and cutting-edge
- Doesn't explain why railroad companies would abandon innovative technology
- Contradicts the logic that companies would abandon something new and advanced
✗ Incorrect
obsolete
obsolete
- Describes the technology as outdated and no longer useful
- Perfectly explains why railroad companies would abandon it
- Matches the logical flow: obsolete technology gets abandoned, causing problems for dependent systems
✓ Correct
widespread
widespread
- Describes how common the technology was
- Doesn't explain why companies would abandon it just because it was widespread
✗ Incorrect
supplementary
supplementary
- Means additional or supporting technology
- Contradicts 'depended entirely on' and doesn't explain why companies would abandon supporting technology
✗ Incorrect