The following text is from a 2023 research report on urban wildlife adaptation. The research team had been monitoring the...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
The following text is from a 2023 research report on urban wildlife adaptation.
The research team had been monitoring the red-tailed hawk population in Central Park for three months using standard observational protocols. However, one individual bird displayed behavioral patterns that diverged significantly from established norms. This anomaly warranted intensive documentation. Over the following weeks, researchers recorded unprecedented hunting techniques: the hawk had learned to use the park's lighting system to extend its active hunting period into twilight hours, coordinating its strikes with the activation of pathway illumination that startled ground prey into movement.
Which choice best states the function of the underlined sentence in the overall structure of the text?
It sets up the detailed behavioral analysis presented in the sentences that follow.
It elaborates on the previous sentence's description of the research methods.
It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.
It establishes a contrast with the research approach in the previous sentence.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The research team had been monitoring the red-tailed hawk population in Central Park for three months using standard observational protocols." |
|
| "However, one individual bird displayed behavioral patterns that diverged significantly from established norms." |
|
| "This anomaly warranted intensive documentation." |
|
| "Over the following weeks, researchers recorded unprecedented hunting techniques: the hawk had learned to use the park's lighting system to extend its active hunting period into twilight hours, coordinating its strikes with the activation of pathway illumination that startled ground prey into movement." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Researchers discovered and documented an individual hawk's innovative hunting techniques that utilized urban lighting systems.
Argument Flow: The passage begins with standard research methodology, introduces an unexpected behavioral anomaly, explains the decision to investigate further, and concludes with detailed findings about the hawk's unprecedented hunting adaptations.
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 underlined sentence "This anomaly warranted intensive documentation" comes right after we learn about the unusual bird behavior and right before we get the detailed documentation
- The right answer should recognize that this sentence explains why the researchers shifted their approach and connects the discovery of unusual behavior to the detailed study that follows
It sets up the detailed behavioral analysis presented in the sentences that follow.
✓ Correct
- This matches perfectly as the sentence explains why researchers decided to do intensive documentation, which directly leads to the detailed behavioral analysis in the final sentence
It elaborates on the previous sentence's description of the research methods.
✗ Incorrect
- The previous sentence describes the unusual behavior discovery, not research methods
- This sentence doesn't elaborate on methods but explains a research decision
It introduces the setting that is described in the sentences that follow.
✗ Incorrect
- The setting (Central Park) was already introduced in the first sentence
- This sentence doesn't introduce any setting but explains a research decision
It establishes a contrast with the research approach in the previous sentence.
✗ Incorrect
- The previous sentence describes the unusual behavior discovery, not a research approach
- This sentence doesn't contrast with anything but explains the logical next step