Question 226·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Andes Mountains are home to more than 4,000 native potato varieties.
- Indigenous farmers often plant many potato varieties in the same field.
- Growing multiple varieties together helps protect the crop from pests and sudden weather changes.
- Genetic diversity in potatoes is considered essential for long-term food security.
- In regions where potatoes are grown as a single variety, such as during the Irish Potato Famine, crops have been more vulnerable to disease.
The student wants to emphasize how traditional Andean farming practices help safeguard potato crops from agricultural risks. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first underline the task phrase in the question (for example, “emphasize how…help safeguard potato crops from agricultural risks”). Then scan the notes and quickly mark the ones that directly match that task, especially any cause-and-effect relationships. Before looking at the answer choices in detail, form a short checklist of what the correct sentence must include (here: the specific Andean practice plus how it protects from risks). Finally, eliminate any choice that is missing one of these key elements or that only gives background, statistics, or comparisons without clearly accomplishing the stated goal.
Hints
Focus on the exact goal
Underline the key words in the question: it wants to emphasize how traditional Andean farming practices help safeguard potato crops from agricultural risks. Which two big ideas must be in the same sentence?
Find the most relevant notes
Look at the notes that talk about what Indigenous farmers do in the field and how that affects pests, weather, or food security. Which notes clearly show a cause-and-effect relationship?
Match notes to choices
Ask yourself: which choice combines both the specific practice (how the potatoes are planted) and the protective effect (reduced risk from pests, weather, or famine), instead of just giving background or a simple comparison?
Eliminate partial matches
If a choice mentions only diversity, only history, or only a comparison—but not specifically how Andean farming helps protect crops from risks—cross it out.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the task in the question
The question asks which choice will emphasize how traditional Andean farming practices help safeguard potato crops from agricultural risks.
So the correct answer must do both of the following:
- Describe a traditional Andean farming practice.
- Explain how it protects potatoes from risks (like pests, weather, disease, famine).
Identify the most relevant notes
Look back at the notes and pick out the ones that match the task:
- Indigenous farmers often plant many potato varieties in the same field. (Describes the practice.)
- Growing multiple varieties together helps protect the crop from pests and sudden weather changes. (Shows protection from risks.)
- Genetic diversity in potatoes is considered essential for long-term food security. (Connects to avoiding famine.)
- The Irish Potato Famine note shows what happens when there is not diversity.
These notes together show a cause-and-effect: planting many varieties (practice) → genetic diversity → protection from pests, weather, and famine (safeguard).
Create a mental checklist for the best answer
Before looking at the choices, form a quick checklist of what the right sentence should contain:
- Mentions Indigenous/traditional Andean farmers.
- Mentions planting many or several potato varieties together.
- Clearly states that this genetic diversity or multi-variety planting protects the crop from specific risks (pests, weather, famine, disease).
Any option that is missing the practice, the protection, or the idea of risk should be eliminated.
Test each option against the checklist
Now compare the answer choices to the checklist:
- Choice A talks about how many varieties exist in the Andes, but it does not explain how farming practices safeguard crops from risks.
- Choice C gives historical background about potato domestication and present-day dependence, but again, it does not describe how farming practices protect against pests, weather, or famine.
- Choice D contrasts monoculture with diverse cultivation in the Andes, but it mainly points out a difference and does not clearly state how Andean practices protect crops.
- Choice B directly mentions Indigenous farmers in the Andes planting several potato varieties side by side and explains that this genetic diversity protects the crop from pests and extreme weather, reducing famine risk.
The only option that fully matches the student’s goal and uses the most relevant notes is Choice B: Indigenous farmers in the Andes plant several potato varieties side by side, and this genetic diversity shields the crop from pests and extreme weather, reducing the likelihood of famine.