Read the passage below and determine which terms best complete each blank to preserve the logical and rhetorical coherence of the text. Which words correctly complete the blanks?
Answer:Although revisionist historians once argued that late-nineteenth-century telegraph networks (i) 【mitigated】 regional economic disparities, recent spatial analysis reveals a far more asymmetric reality. While infrastructure expansion did facilitate commerce across major metropolitan hubs, peripheral markets remained stubbornly (ii) 【impervious】 to capital accumulation. Far from validating claims of structural (iii) 【convergence】, the historical data demonstrates that technological integration frequently entrenched pre-existing financial hierarchies.
Answer
Blank (i): mitigated; Blank (ii): impervious; Blank (iii): convergence
The passage sets up a contrast between an earlier revisionist thesis and recent empirical spatial data. Sentence one uses 'Although' to signal that revisionists believed telegraphs lessened ('mitigated') economic gaps, contrasting with the 'asymmetric reality'. Sentence two details this asymmetry by noting that peripheral markets were unaffected by or 'impervious' to capital influx. Sentence three summarizes that rather than proving structural leveling ('convergence'), the data shows hierarchies were reinforced.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Cross-Sentence Contextual Coherence and Structural Transition Tracking
Estimated Time:2m 0s