Question 230·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching coral reefs, a student has taken the following notes:
- Coral reefs support about 25% of all marine species despite covering less than 1% of the ocean floor.
- By reducing wave energy, reefs provide coastal protection valued at $9.0 billion each year.
- Worldwide, roughly 500 million people depend on reefs for food, income, and shoreline defense.
- Mass coral‐bleaching events have increased fivefold in the last 40 years.
The student wants to emphasize the economic importance of coral reefs to human populations. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first circle or underline the task words in the question (for example, "economic importance" and "to human populations"). Then scan the notes to find the one that most directly matches those words—look for explicit connections to people, money, jobs, or resources they use. Finally, choose the answer that is based on that note and ignore options that are merely interesting or true but don’t match the stated purpose. This targeted matching saves time and prevents you from being distracted by impressive but irrelevant details.
Hints
Focus on the task words
Underline the key words in the question: "emphasize," "economic importance," and "to human populations." Ask yourself: which type of information would best show that reefs matter economically to people?
Connect the goal to the notes
Look back at the four notes and identify which ones talk about money or livelihoods and also involve people, not just animals or environmental changes.
Eliminate notes that don’t fit the goal
Cross out any note that is mainly about marine species or about environmental damage trends without clearly explaining how people’s economic lives are affected. Then see which answer choice is based on the remaining, most relevant note.
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate the goal of the question
The prompt says the student wants to emphasize the economic importance of coral reefs to human populations. That means the best choice should:
- Be about economics (money, jobs, livelihoods, or resources people use), and
- Be clearly tied to human beings, not just animals or the environment.
Sort the notes by topic
Look at each note and decide what kind of information it gives:
- Note 1: About biodiversity (percentage of marine species) → ecological, not economic.
- Note 2: About coastal protection valued at 9.0 billion dollars per year → economic, but focused on the value of protection.
- Note 3: About hundreds of millions of people depending on reefs for food, income, and defense → directly about human livelihoods and safety, which is both economic and human-focused.
- Note 4: About coral-bleaching events increasing → environmental threat/trend, not economic benefit.
Match the notes to the answer choices
Now see which answer choice is based on which note:
- Choice A matches Note 1 (species supported vs. area of ocean floor).
- Choice B matches Note 2 (dollar value of coastal protection).
- Choice C matches Note 3 (large number of people depending on reefs for basic needs and income).
- Choice D matches Note 4 (increase in bleaching events and concern about reef loss).
Decide which note best meets the goal
Two choices involve economics or value: B and C.
- B uses a money figure ($9.0 billion) but focuses on reef protection in general rather than clearly on people’s livelihoods.
- C shows that an enormous number of people depend on reefs for food and income. That directly connects reefs to human economic well-being and survival. Because the question specifically says "economic importance ... to human populations," the best match is the statement that many people depend on reefs for food, income, and shoreline defense: Choice C: Around 500 million people worldwide rely on coral reefs for food, income, and shoreline defense.