Question 242·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Seagrass meadows cover less than 0.2% of the ocean floor.
- They sequester carbon 35 times faster than tropical rainforests.
- Marine biologist Dr. Nora Elliott calls seagrasses "the planet's quietest superheroes."
- "Every square meter of healthy seagrass can bury nearly 1 kilogram of carbon each year," Elliott explains.
- Restoring seagrass meadows is considered an effective strategy for mitigating climate change.
The student wants to include a sentence that uses a quotation to emphasize how efficiently seagrass meadows store carbon. Which choice most effectively incorporates relevant information from the notes to achieve this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, start by underlining the exact task words (for example, “uses a quotation” and “emphasize how efficiently…store carbon”). Then scan the notes to find the one or two pieces of information that match those task words most directly. Next, quickly eliminate any answer choices that violate a clear requirement (such as lacking a quotation when one is required). Finally, among the remaining options, choose the one that both accurately uses the relevant note and most directly fulfills the stated purpose, avoiding choices that are only loosely related or that leave out the key focus (here, efficiency of carbon storage).
Hints
Clarify the goal
Underline the words in the question that describe what the sentence must do. What two things must the sentence include or emphasize?
Use the notes strategically
From the notes, which bullet points talk about carbon storage or sequestration, and which of those are written as quotations from someone?
Check each answer against the requirements
First, eliminate any option that does not contain a quotation. Among the remaining options with quotation marks, look closely at what the quoted words are actually about—do they highlight carbon storage efficiency or something else?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify exactly what the question is asking for
The question says the student wants a sentence that uses a quotation and emphasizes how efficiently seagrass meadows store carbon.
So any correct answer must:
- Contain a direct quotation (with quotation marks), and
- Focus on how effectively or efficiently seagrasses store or bury carbon, not just any positive fact about them.
Locate the most relevant note(s)
Look back at the notes and ask: which ones
- Are written as quotations, and
- Talk about carbon storage or sequestration?
From the notes:
- The third note is a quotation but calls seagrasses "the planet's quietest superheroes"—this is praise, but not about carbon storage.
- The second note talks about sequestering carbon 35 times faster than rainforests, but it is not written as a quotation in the notes.
- The fourth note is a quotation from Dr. Elliott that gives a specific amount of carbon buried per square meter each year, which is directly about carbon storage efficiency.
Match the answer choices to the task
Now compare each answer choice to the requirements:
- Choice A uses a quotation, but the quoted phrase only calls seagrasses superheroes; it doesn’t mention carbon or efficiency.
- Choice B talks about how much area seagrasses cover and their ecological influence, but it has no quotation and doesn’t mention carbon.
- Choice D mentions restoring seagrass meadows to mitigate climate change, but again, there is no quotation and it doesn’t emphasize how efficiently they store carbon.
- Only one choice both quotes Dr. Elliott about how much carbon each square meter of seagrass can bury each year and clearly connects that fact to efficiency.
Select the answer that fulfills both requirements
Because it is the only option that includes a direct quotation describing how much carbon healthy seagrass can bury per square meter each year and explicitly uses that information to emphasize efficiency, the correct answer is:
C) As Dr. Nora Elliott explains, "Every square meter of healthy seagrass can bury nearly 1 kilogram of carbon each year," underscoring how efficiently these meadows store carbon.