The printing of Virginia Woolf's novels featured a creative ______ between Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell: a talented painter,...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The printing of Virginia Woolf's novels featured a creative ______ between Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell: a talented painter, Bell worked closely with Woolf to create original cover art for most of the novels.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The printing of Virginia Woolf's novels featured a creative" |
|
| "[MISSING WORD]" |
|
| "between Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell:" |
|
| "a talented painter, Bell worked closely with Woolf to create original cover art for most of the novels." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Visual Structure Map:
[CONTEXT: Woolf's novel printing] → [MISSING RELATIONSHIP] between sisters → [EXPLANATION: Bell (painter) + Woolf collaborated on cover art]
Main Point: Virginia Woolf collaborated with her sister Vanessa Bell, a painter, on creating cover art for her novels.
Argument Flow: The passage sets up that Woolf's novels featured some kind of creative relationship with her sister, then explains that this involved Bell using her artistic talents to work with Woolf on original cover designs.
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 a positive creative relationship (since it's modified by "creative")
- It should fit with the evidence that Bell "worked closely with Woolf"
- It should make sense for a collaborative artistic endeavor between sisters
- The relationship involves both people contributing their skills together
- The right answer should describe a collaborative, cooperative relationship that fits with creative teamwork
- "Rebellion" suggests conflict or opposition
- Contradicts the evidence that they "worked closely" together
- What trap this represents: Students might be thrown off by the word "creative" and think of artistic rebellion, but the context clearly shows cooperation
- "Partnership" perfectly captures a collaborative relationship
- Matches the evidence that Bell "worked closely with Woolf"
- Fits with the "creative" modifier - creative partnerships are common in artistic work
- Makes logical sense for two people combining their talents
- "Discovery" doesn't describe a relationship between people
- Doesn't make grammatical or logical sense in context
- The sentence structure requires a word describing an interpersonal relationship
- "Disagreement" suggests conflict
- Directly contradicts "worked closely" evidence
- Doesn't fit with "creative" in a positive context