Question 102·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- In 1960, Jane Goodall observed wild chimpanzees at Gombe Stream National Park using grass stems to extract termites from mounds.
- At the time, many scientists believed that tool use distinguished humans from all other animals.
- Follow-up studies have since documented diverse "tool cultures" among chimpanzee communities across Africa.
- Goodall’s work drew widespread public attention to chimpanzees and their habitats.
- In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall Institute, an organization dedicated to chimpanzee research and conservation.
The student wants to make and support a generalization about the impact of Goodall’s discovery. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For this type of "research notes" question, first read the task in the stem very carefully and underline what you are supposed to produce (for example, a generalization about impact, a cause-and-effect relationship, or a comparison). Then quickly list or mentally note the different categories of information in the bullets (such as discovery, scientific impact, later research, public or policy effects). Eliminate any choice that mainly restates a single bullet or adds an idea that isn’t in the notes. Finally, choose the option that synthesizes multiple notes into one broad, accurate statement that directly matches the task in the question.
Hints
Focus on the key instruction words
Underline the words "make and support a generalization about the impact of Goodall’s discovery." Ask yourself: which notes describe what happened because of her discovery?
Group the notes by type of effect
Separate the notes into categories like: change in scientific beliefs, further research, public attention, and conservation or organizations. Which answer choice reflects more than one of these categories?
Beware of answers that only use one bullet
Some choices mainly restate just one note (for example, only the original observation or only the founding of the Institute). Look for an option that pulls together several of the notes into one overall statement.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the question is asking for
The prompt says the student wants to "make and support a generalization about the impact of Goodall’s discovery."
That means the correct answer must:
- Be a broad, overall statement (a generalization), not just one small detail.
- Describe the impact (what changed or resulted) from her discovery.
- Be supported by several of the notes, not only one.
Identify the different impacts mentioned in the notes
Scan the notes and sort them into types of impact:
- What she discovered: chimpanzees using grass stems as tools (Note 1).
- Scientific impact: challenged the belief that only humans used tools (Note 2).
- Research impact: follow-up studies documented diverse "tool cultures" across chimpanzee communities (Note 3).
- Public/conservation impact:
- Her work drew widespread public attention to chimpanzees and their habitats (Note 4).
- She founded the Jane Goodall Institute for chimpanzee research and conservation (Note 5).
A strong generalization about impact should connect more than one of these consequences, not just restate a single bullet.
Match answer choices to the range of impacts
Now compare each choice to the list of impacts you found:
- Does the choice talk only about one effect, or does it combine multiple effects?
- Does it mention both the scientific impact (challenging beliefs, further research) and the broader impact (public attention, conservation, institute)?
- Is every part of the choice clearly supported by at least one note?
Eliminate any option that focuses on just one narrow result or leaves out major effects shown in the notes.
Eliminate narrow or incomplete options and select the one that synthesizes everything
Choices that only say Goodall overturned a belief, or only mention founding the Institute, or only mention public attention are too narrow and do not form a full generalization about the impact of her discovery.
The best answer will:
- State that her discovery challenged the idea that humans were the only tool users.
- Also show that this discovery led to ongoing research and conservation efforts, including the Institute.
The only choice that does all of this, using multiple notes as support, is choice D, which correctly presents a broad, supported generalization about Goodall’s impact.