When Tesla Motors announced plans to produce luxury electric vehicles, automotive industry experts predicted the venture would fail within five...
GMAT Expression of Ideas : (Expression) Questions
When Tesla Motors announced plans to produce luxury electric vehicles, automotive industry experts predicted the venture would fail within five years. Analysts argued that the high costs, limited driving range, and lengthy charging times would make electric cars commercially unviable in the luxury market. _____ Tesla's Model S became one of the best-selling premium sedans in automotive history.
Which choice completes the text with the most logical transition?
Subsequently,
Similarly,
For example,
Nevertheless,
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "When Tesla Motors announced plans to produce luxury electric vehicles, automotive industry experts predicted the venture would fail within five years." |
|
| "Analysts argued that the high costs, limited driving range, and lengthy charging times would make electric cars commercially unviable in the luxury market." |
|
| "[MISSING TRANSITION]" |
|
| "Tesla's Model S became one of the best-selling premium sedans in automotive history." |
|
Part B: Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Despite expert predictions of failure based on technical limitations, Tesla's Model S achieved remarkable commercial success in the luxury car market.
Argument Flow: The passage presents a classic expectation vs. reality structure - experts made negative predictions with specific reasoning, but the missing transition will connect to Tesla's contradictory success in the market.
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 experts predicting failure with specific reasons, followed by Tesla actually achieving massive success
- This creates a clear contrast between expectation and reality
- The logical connector needs to signal that what follows contradicts or goes against what we just read
- So the right answer should show contrast or opposition between the negative expert predictions and Tesla's positive market performance
Subsequently,
Subsequently
✗ Incorrect
- Wrong because "Subsequently" means "afterwards" or "as a result" which would suggest Tesla's success happened because of the expert predictions rather than despite them
Similarly,
Similarly
✗ Incorrect
- Wrong because "Similarly" suggests that what follows agrees with what came before, meaning Tesla's success was similar to the prediction of failure
For example,
For example
✗ Incorrect
- Wrong because "For example" introduces a specific instance that illustrates a general point, but Tesla's success doesn't serve as an example of the failure predictions
Nevertheless,
Nevertheless
✓ Correct
- Correct because "Nevertheless" means "despite this" and perfectly signals the contrast between expert predictions of failure and actual success