Question 152·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has compiled the following notes:
• Honeybees perform two main food-location dances inside the dark hive.
• The waggle dance encodes both the direction and the distance to flowers through the angle and duration of the dancer’s movements.
• The round dance is used when food is close to the hive; it signals that nectar is nearby but does not indicate a direction.
• The two dances differ in the type and amount of information they convey.
The student wants to write a sentence that emphasizes how the information conveyed by the two dances differs. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first underline the task words in the stem (here, “emphasizes how the information conveyed by the two dances differs”). Then, quickly scan the notes and mark the bullets that speak directly to that task—in this case, the ones describing the information each dance provides. Next, eliminate any answer that (1) uses only background details, (2) talks about only one of the items being compared, or (3) is so general it could fit many situations. The correct choice will accurately combine the most relevant note details and explicitly do what the question asks (such as showing a clear contrast between the two items).
Hints
Focus on the task in the question stem
The question wants a sentence that emphasizes how the information conveyed by the two dances differs. Make sure the option you pick both mentions both dances and shows a difference, not just a description.
Look back at the most relevant notes
Among the bullets, identify which ones describe what information the waggle dance conveys and which ones describe what information the round dance conveys. Those are the details your sentence should be built around.
Eliminate choices that don’t compare or are too general
Cross out answers that only talk about one dance, that only give background (like where the dances happen), or that describe bees’ behavior in a very general way without highlighting a specific difference between the two dances.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify exactly what the question is asking you to emphasize
The question says the student wants a sentence that “emphasizes how the information conveyed by the two dances differs.”
So your answer must do two things:
- Talk about both dances (waggle and round), and
- Make clear how the information they convey is different, not just describe them in general.
Pull out the key notes about the information each dance conveys
From the notes:
- The waggle dance encodes both the direction and the distance to flowers through the dancer’s movements.
- The round dance is used when food is close to the hive; it signals that nectar is nearby but does not indicate a direction.
- A summary note already tells you: “The two dances differ in the type and amount of information they convey.”
So the essential difference is:
- Waggle dance: more detailed information (direction + distance).
- Round dance: less detailed information (just that food is nearby, no direction).
Check each option against the goal and the notes
Now test each choice:
- Choice A talks about where the dances take place (inside the hive, dim light). That’s background, not a difference in information.
- Choice C accurately describes the waggle dance, but says nothing about the round dance, so it does not show a difference between the two.
- Choice D says honeybees share details about food sources, but it’s too general and does not explain how the two dances differ in the information they give.
You need the choice that directly contrasts what information each dance provides, especially the fact that one gives direction and the other does not.
Select the sentence that clearly contrasts the information in the two dances
The remaining choice is the one that explicitly contrasts the round dance with the waggle dance and highlights that the round dance only tells hive mates that food is nearby and does not provide directional guidance.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
B) Unlike the waggle dance, the round dance tells hive mates only that food is nearby and offers them no directional guidance.