Question 222·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has gathered the following notes:
- Wild chimpanzees are known to use a variety of tools.
- In certain forests, chimpanzees select sticks, strip off the leaves, and use the sticks to fish for termites.
- In other areas, chimpanzees crack open hard-shelled nuts by striking them with stones.
The student wants to illustrate how chimpanzee tool use changes to suit different environments. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to achieve this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, start by underlining the goal in the question stem (for example, “illustrate how X changes in different environments”). Then quickly scan the notes to see which details together show that idea—usually it will be a contrast or pattern across the notes. Next, eliminate answer choices that: (1) use only one note when the goal clearly needs multiple, (2) are too general and don’t mention the specific relationship the question asks for, or (3) focus on the wrong aspect of the notes. Choose the option that both uses the most relevant notes and explicitly states the connection the question cares about (such as adaptation, cause-effect, or comparison).
Hints
Clarify the goal
Underline the phrase in the question that states the student’s goal. What has to be shown about chimpanzee tool use, not just described?
Use more than one note
Ask yourself which notes specifically show differences in what chimpanzees use or do in different locations. Look for a choice that draws on those differences, not just one detail.
Look for environment-related language
Check each answer for words or phrases that connect tool use to different places, surroundings, or resources, not just to a single behavior.
Eliminate overly narrow or overly broad choices
Cross out any option that mentions only one tool/behavior from the notes or that is so general it could be true anywhere without referring to different environments.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the task in the question stem
Focus on the goal: “illustrate how chimpanzee tool use changes to suit different environments.” This means the correct choice must do two things:
- Talk about tool use (not just behavior in general), and
- Show that this tool use changes depending on the environment or surroundings.
Review what the notes actually say
Look at how the notes provide that idea:
- Note 1: Chimpanzees use a variety of tools.
- Note 2: In certain forests, they use sticks (after stripping leaves) to fish for termites.
- Note 3: In other areas, they use stones to crack hard-shelled nuts.
Together, these show that in different places (different environments), chimpanzees use different tools based on what is available (sticks vs. stones).
Test each option against the goal and notes
Now compare each choice to the goal and notes:
- Choice A only talks about sticks for termites. It uses part of note 2 but ignores the different tool and behavior in other areas, so it doesn’t show change across environments.
- Choice B compares what chimpanzees do in different regions (cracking nuts vs. fishing for termites) but doesn’t clearly highlight tool use changing with environment; it sounds more like a list of behaviors.
- Choice D just restates that chimpanzees use a variety of tools (note 1) but says nothing about different environments or how tool use changes.
- One choice clearly mentions both tools (sticks and stones) and explains that these tools match the resources in their surroundings, which directly shows adaptation to different environments.
Select the choice that clearly shows adaptation to surroundings
The best answer is: “Chimpanzees use tools, such as sticks to fish for termites and stones to crack nuts, demonstrating that they adapt their tool use to the resources in their surroundings.”
This choice uses information from all the relevant notes (sticks in some places, stones in others) and explicitly states that chimpanzees adapt their tool use to the resources in their environments, exactly matching the student’s goal.