Question 148·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has compiled the following notes:
• In the waggle dance of the honey bee (Apis mellifera), each "waggle run" lasts between 0.2 and 2.5 seconds.
• The duration of a waggle run increases in direct proportion to the distance of the food source from the hive.
• Scout bees perform the waggle dance on the hive’s vertical comb to inform nestmates about a newly discovered nectar source.
• Returning scouts also carry samples of the nectar so that other bees can recognize its scent.
The student wants to highlight a cause-and-effect relationship between the distance to a food source and the information conveyed by a honey bee’s waggle dance. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, first restate the task in your own words: what exact relationship or purpose must the sentence show (here, a cause-and-effect link between distance and information conveyed)? Next, scan the notes and mark only those that are directly relevant to that specific relationship. Then, eliminate any answer choices that (1) don’t use those key notes, (2) bring in unrelated details, or (3) fail to clearly express the required relationship (such as cause-and-effect). Prefer choices that explicitly connect the relevant facts with words like “because,” “so,” or “therefore,” and that stay tightly focused on the stated goal.
Hints
Clarify the goal
Underline the words in the question that state the goal: you need a cause-and-effect relationship between distance to a food source and the information given by the waggle dance.
Locate key notes in the bullets
Which bullet point talks about how something in the dance changes when the food source is farther away? Which bullet point tells you what the dance is used for?
Match choices to distance and communication
Look for an option that (1) involves distance (or how the dance changes with distance) and (2) mentions what this tells or communicates to the other bees.
Beware of extra but irrelevant details
Eliminate choices that are true details from the notes but only talk about scent, general methods, or simple descriptions, without clearly linking distance to what the waggle dance tells other bees.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the task in the question
The question says the student wants to highlight a cause-and-effect relationship between:
- the distance to a food source (cause)
- the information conveyed by the waggle dance (effect)
So the correct answer must clearly show that distance causes some change in the dance that tells other bees something.
Find the relevant notes
Look at the bullet points and ask: which ones connect distance and the waggle dance?
- Note 1: duration is between 0.2 and 2.5 seconds — this is just a range, not a cause-and-effect link.
- Note 2: “The duration of a waggle run increases in direct proportion to the distance of the food source from the hive.” This directly links distance and duration.
- Note 3: “Scout bees perform the waggle dance … to inform nestmates about a newly discovered nectar source.” This tells us the dance communicates information.
- Note 4: about carrying nectar samples for scent — that’s about smell, not distance.
So the answer should mainly combine note 2 (distance–duration relationship) and the idea from note 3 (the dance informs/communicates).
Check each choice against the goal
Now test each option against the goal: Does it
- mention distance (or something directly tied to it, like the changing duration)?
- show cause-and-effect (one thing changes because of the other)?
- connect this to what the dance communicates to other bees?
- Choice A: Talks about dancing and carrying nectar samples. No mention of distance or a cause-and-effect link.
- Choice C: Gives a time range (0.2–2.5 seconds) and mentions direction, but never connects duration to distance.
- Choice D: Says the dance is one of several methods to locate flowers; it’s general and doesn’t mention distance or a specific cause-and-effect.
- One choice clearly uses the fact that duration changes with distance and explains that this change communicates distance.
Select the sentence that shows the cause-and-effect clearly
The only option that directly uses the idea that longer distance causes longer waggle duration, and that this change tells other bees how far away the food is, is:
B) Because the duration of a honey bee’s waggle run increases as the food source lies farther from the hive, the dance directly communicates distance to the rest of the colony.
This matches the notes and clearly shows the cause (food is farther away) and effect (waggle run lasts longer, so the dance communicates distance).