Question 23·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The golden lion tamarin is a small monkey native to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
- In the 1970s, fewer than 200 golden lion tamarins remained in the wild.
- Zoos around the world began cooperative captive-breeding programs to boost numbers.
- By 2022, the estimated wild population had risen to about 2,500, although habitat loss is still a concern.
The student wants to highlight the role that captive-breeding programs played in the species’ recovery. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, first underline the specific goal in the question (for example, “highlight the role that X played in Y”). Then scan the notes to find which details match both parts of that goal—often a cause and its effect or a process and its outcome. Next, check each answer choice and quickly eliminate any that leave out a key element named in the question or add irrelevant information. The correct choice will be the one that uses the most relevant notes to directly and efficiently fulfill the stated purpose, not just any true statement about the topic.
Hints
Focus on the goal in the question
Underline the phrase “highlight the role that captive-breeding programs played in the species’ recovery.” Any correct answer must clearly connect those programs to the idea of recovery.
Find the most relevant notes
Look back at the notes and identify which bullet(s) discuss captive-breeding programs and which bullet(s) show a change in the tamarin population over time.
Check each choice for both parts
For each answer choice, ask: Does it mention captive-breeding programs? Does it show that the species’ population improved (recovered)? Eliminate any choice that does not clearly do both.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the task
The question says the student wants to highlight the role that captive-breeding programs played in the species’ recovery.
So the best answer must do both:
- Mention captive-breeding programs, and
- Show that these programs led to a recovery (an improvement in population).
Identify the most relevant notes
From the notes, focus on details about:
- Captive-breeding programs: “Zoos around the world began cooperative captive-breeding programs to boost numbers.”
- Recovery of the species:
- “In the 1970s, fewer than 200 golden lion tamarins remained in the wild.”
- “By 2022, the estimated wild population had risen to about 2,500…”
These notes together show a cause (captive breeding) and an effect (population rebound).
Eliminate choices that miss captive breeding or recovery
Check each answer against the task:
- Choice A talks about where the monkey lives and its disappearing habitat, but says nothing about captive-breeding programs or population recovery.
- Choice C mentions a low population and habitat loss, but again does not mention captive-breeding programs and focuses on an ongoing threat, not recovery.
- Choice D gives only the 2022 population size; it doesn’t mention the earlier low number or captive breeding, so it doesn’t explain recovery or the programs’ role.
All three miss at least one of the key ideas: the programs and the recovery.
Confirm the choice that shows cause and effect
The remaining option, Choice B, explicitly credits captive-breeding programs in zoos and describes how the population grew from fewer than 200 in the 1970s to about 2,500 in the wild by 2022. This directly highlights the role of captive-breeding programs in the species’ recovery, so Choice B is correct.