Urban planners design green spaces and parks to provide recreational opportunities for city residents. These areas also feature extensive tree...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
Urban planners design green spaces and parks to provide recreational opportunities for city residents. These areas also feature extensive tree canopy coverage and native plant installations that naturally filter air pollutants and reduce urban heat island effects. _____ modern cities benefit from both improved public health through recreation and enhanced environmental quality through natural air purification systems.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
However,
For example,
In this way,
On the contrary,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Urban planners design green spaces and parks to provide recreational opportunities for city residents.' |
|
| 'These areas also feature extensive tree canopy coverage and native plant installations that naturally filter air pollutants and reduce urban heat island effects.' |
|
| '[MISSING TRANSITION]' |
|
| 'modern cities benefit from both improved public health through recreation and enhanced environmental quality through natural air purification systems.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Urban green spaces provide cities with both recreational and environmental benefits that improve public health and air quality.
Argument Flow: The passage first explains what urban planners do - create green spaces for recreation. It then adds that these same spaces have environmental benefits through trees and plants. Finally, it connects these two functions to show how cities get dual benefits from this planning approach.
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 transition needs to connect two key ideas: (1) green spaces provide both recreational opportunities AND environmental benefits, and (2) cities therefore get both public health benefits and environmental quality improvements
- The relationship is causal - the dual nature of green spaces leads to dual benefits for cities
- We need a transition that shows this result or consequence relationship
However,
- Signals contrast or opposition
- There is no contrast here - the sentence about cities benefiting actually supports what came before
For example,
- Introduces a specific instance of a general principle
- The sentence about cities benefiting is not an example but a conclusion about the overall result
In this way,
- Shows that what follows is the method or result of what came before
- Connects the dual functions of green spaces to the dual benefits cities receive
- Creates logical flow: green spaces work in multiple ways leading to cities benefiting in multiple corresponding ways
On the contrary,
- Signals strong opposition to what was just said
- The benefits to cities actually align perfectly with what planners designed the spaces to do