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, underline the goal in the question stem (for example, “illustrate how X changes in different environments”). Then pick the notes that best support that goal—often a contrast across locations. Eliminate choices that are too narrow (only one example) or too broad (no environment contrast). Choose the option that uses the most relevant notes and explicitly states the relationship the goal requires.
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.” The best choice must (1) mention tool use and (2) show it varies by location/environment (a contrast across places).
Identify the notes that show environmental differences
Two notes provide a clear contrast across environments:
- In certain forests, chimpanzees use sticks (after stripping leaves) to fish for termites.
- In other areas, chimpanzees use stones to crack hard-shelled nuts.
Using both examples is the clearest way to show tool use changes with environment.
Eliminate choices that miss the goal
- The choice about stripping leaves from sticks uses only one environment/example.
- The choice that contrasts regions but only mentions cracking nuts vs. fishing for termites doesn’t clearly show tool use changing.
- The very general choice about using a variety of tools doesn’t explain how tool use changes across environments.
Choose the option that uses both examples and states the connection
The best choice is: “Chimpanzees use sticks to fish for termites in some forests and stones to crack nuts elsewhere, adapting to each environment.”