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Hi,

I was stuck between option A and B. I eliminated option A because it said "but ultimately changed scientific understanding of plant viruses", and changed specific understanding was the main reason. I could not find any details from the passage that said her work changed specific understanding of plant viruses. The passage does say "Her insights have led to a deeper understanding of how viruses, such as TMV, interact with their hosts" but I felt option A is a bit of a stretch.

However, option B says "had little impact on the field of plant virology until recent years". This did make sense since the passage says "Dr. Beale's work, initially met with skepticism, has been validated by later research and significantly advanced our understanding".

Hence I proceeded with option B.

The official answer is A. Can someone please help explain why B is not/cannot be the answer?
Thanks!­
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Thank you for the question. The main reason B is wrong is becuase this choice uses  "recent years" which is perhaps no more than 5 or 10 years, maybe 20 if we are talking about a very long time span.
 
The passage says "initially met with skepticism" indicating the time was not significant, meaning again a few years and not as significant as recent years but there is no exact figures besides these 2 markers. 

I also checked in the system and this is one of the easiest RC questons we have so it is probably good enough and pretty clear as most are able to answer it correctly based on these pointers.  ­
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can someone explain why A) is correct? How can we equate skepticism with controversial? Skepticism looks to be not fully believing something while controversial is disagreement, can we really infer A) from the passage?
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I did not quite understand the solution. Controversial seems far-stretched from skepticism
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Hi KarthikRajP,

You’re absolutely right to point this out. While “skepticism” and “controversial” aren’t strict synonyms, the GMAT occasionally allows a looser interpretation if the option captures the author’s broader intended meaning.

In this case, the passage suggests that Dr. Beale’s work was initially met with resistance and later accepted, implying some degree of friction or pushback from the scientific community. The answer choice’s use of “initially controversial” may not match the exact wording, but it conveys a similar line of thought, capturing the spirit of the resistance she faced.

Since the rest of the option clearly aligns with the passage and no better alternative exists, it’s important not to dismiss it. In situations like this, it’s smarter to evaluate whether the option reflects the passage’s overall intent, and only reject it if a clearly better choice is available, which isn’t the case here.

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I did not quite understand the solution. Controversial seems far-stretched from skepticism
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I did not quite understand the solution. B/w A& D - I would go with D due to the last para and how it had proven groundbreaking. I don't agree with option A
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b/w A& D don't you think D makes more sense. A has the word "controversial"
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Hi,

I would urge you to create a dictionary to ensure you are rejecting correctly. "Controversial" simply means causing public disagreement, so there is nothing wrong with that word, and doesn't form a basis to reject A). The passage clearly states this: "Dr. Beale's work, initially met with skepticism,..."
D) is inaccurate because her work was not accepted immediately. The passage clearly says that initially it was met with skepticism => meaning public wasn't ready to believe/agree with it at the start.

Hope this helps!
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b/w A& D don't you think D makes more sense. A has the word "controversial"
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