When conservation biologists gained permission to conduct fieldwork in previously restricted wilderness areas across northern Alaska and remote sectio...
GMAT Craft and Structure : (Structure) Questions
When conservation biologists gained permission to conduct fieldwork in previously restricted wilderness areas across northern Alaska and remote sections of the Canadian Arctic, they were finally positioned to ______ longstanding criticisms that their endangered species assessments suffered from geographical bias due to an overreliance on data from easily accessible protected areas in the lower 48 states.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical and precise word or phrase?
counter
substantiate
catalog
anticipate
I'll solve this step by step, following the systematic process for Words in Context questions.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'When conservation biologists gained permission to conduct fieldwork in previously restricted wilderness areas across northern Alaska and remote sections of the Canadian Arctic,' |
|
| 'they were finally positioned to' |
|
| 'longstanding criticisms that their endangered species assessments suffered from geographical bias due to an overreliance on data from easily accessible protected areas in the lower 48 states.' |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Conservation biologists' new access to remote areas allows them to address previous criticisms about geographical bias in their research.
Argument Flow: The sentence establishes that gaining access to previously restricted remote areas has positioned conservation biologists to do something about longstanding criticisms regarding their over-reliance on easily accessible research locations.
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
- From our analysis, we know that biologists were criticized for geographical bias because they only used data from easily accessible areas
- Now they have access to remote, previously restricted areas in Alaska and the Arctic
- This new access positions them to do something about those criticisms
- The logical relationship here is that having access to remote data allows them to respond to or address the criticism about only using accessible locations
- They can now show their work isn't geographically biased
- So the right answer should indicate responding to or addressing the criticisms in some way - likely by contradicting or refuting them with new evidence from remote areas
counter
counter
✓ Correct
- 'Counter' means to respond to or contradict something
- Perfect fit - new access to remote areas lets them contradict/respond to criticisms about geographical bias
- They can now counter the claim that their assessments are geographically biased since they have data from remote locations too
substantiate
substantiate
✗ Incorrect
- 'Substantiate' means to provide evidence supporting something
- Doesn't make logical sense - they wouldn't want to support or strengthen criticisms about their bias
catalog
catalog
✗ Incorrect
- 'Catalog' means to list or organize systematically
- Doesn't fit the logical flow - simply listing criticisms doesn't make sense given the context about addressing geographical bias
anticipate
anticipate
✗ Incorrect
- 'Anticipate' means to expect or predict beforehand
- Illogical timing - these are 'longstanding' criticisms that already exist, not future ones to predict