Thomas Edison's inventive career spanned several decades and produced over 1,000 patents. His innovations included improvements to the telegraph, the...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Thomas Edison's inventive career spanned several decades and produced over 1,000 patents. His innovations included improvements to the telegraph, the first practical incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and early motion picture technology. _____ most people today associate him primarily with the invention of the light bulb.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Nevertheless,
Therefore,
Similarly,
To illustrate,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "Thomas Edison's inventive career spanned several decades and produced over 1,000 patents." |
|
| "His innovations included improvements to the telegraph, the first practical incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and early motion picture technology." |
|
| [MISSING TRANSITION] |
|
| "most people today associate him primarily with the invention of the light bulb." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Despite Edison's incredibly diverse and prolific inventive career, most people today only associate him with the light bulb invention.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Edison's remarkable breadth of innovation across multiple decades and technologies, then reveals the gap between this comprehensive reality and the narrow public perception that focuses primarily on just one invention.
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
- Looking at our analysis, we have a comprehensive picture of Edison's diverse inventions and massive output (1000+ patents across multiple technologies), but then we learn that people today mainly think of just one invention - the light bulb
- This creates a contrast between the full reality (many diverse inventions) and the limited public perception (just one invention)
- The logical relationship we need is one that shows contradiction or contrast
Nevertheless,
- Shows contrast between Edison's diverse inventive output and the narrow public perception
- Signals despite what I just told you about his many inventions, here's the contradicting reality
- Perfectly captures the logical relationship our prethinking identified
Therefore,
- Indicates cause and effect, suggesting people associate Edison with the light bulb BECAUSE of his diverse inventions
- This creates illogical reasoning since having many inventions wouldn't logically lead to being remembered for just one
Similarly,
- Shows continuation or similarity, suggesting the public perception aligns with the comprehensive picture
- Would mean people's focus on the light bulb is similar to his diverse innovations
- This contradicts the actual relationship, which is a contrast
To illustrate,
- Introduces an example that supports the previous point
- Would suggest that people focusing on the light bulb illustrates his diverse inventive career
- This doesn't make sense since focusing on one invention doesn't illustrate diversity