Question 250·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Amazon rainforest covers approximately 5.5 million square kilometers.
- It produces about 20% of the world's oxygen.
- It is home to an estimated 10% of known species on Earth.
- The Amazon loses roughly 10,000 square kilometers of forest to deforestation each year.
The student wants to emphasize the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, first underline the goal in the question stem (here, “emphasize the rate of deforestation”). Then scan the notes to find which specific detail matches that goal ("loses roughly 10,000 square kilometers...each year"). Next, evaluate each answer choice by asking: 1) Does it use that relevant detail accurately? 2) Is that detail the main focus of the sentence, not just a side note? Eliminate choices that focus on different ideas (like size, oxygen, or biodiversity) or bury the key detail in a subordinate or nonessential clause. Choose the sentence whose main clause most directly fulfills the stated purpose using only the necessary information from the notes.
Hints
Restate the goal in your own words
Ask yourself: Which sentence makes it very clear how fast the Amazon is losing forest each year, instead of talking mainly about something else?
Locate the key note
Look at the bullet points and find the one that tells you how many square kilometers of forest are lost each year. Keep that number and idea in mind while checking the choices.
Check the main idea of each choice
For each option, ask: Is the main point about deforestation and yearly forest loss, or is it mainly about size, oxygen, or biodiversity with deforestation (if mentioned) as a side detail?
Watch how clauses are used
Pay attention to which part of the sentence is the main clause and which is extra information. The correct answer will put the deforestation idea in the main clause so it stands out.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the writing goal
The question says the student wants to emphasize the rate of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. That means the best sentence must make the yearly forest loss the main idea, not just mention it in passing, and it should use the specific information from the notes about this loss.
Find the relevant note
Look back at the notes and find the one about deforestation:
- "The Amazon loses roughly 10,000 square kilometers of forest to deforestation each year."
This is the rate of deforestation (how much forest is lost per year). The correct choice must clearly express this idea and use this number correctly.
Check which choices focus on deforestation
Now compare each answer choice to the goal:
- Some choices talk about the size of the rainforest, the oxygen it produces, or its biodiversity. Those details are from the notes but do not emphasize deforestation.
- One choice mixes the deforestation fact with another idea so that the main point becomes something else (like oxygen production), pushing deforestation into the background.
The best answer will keep deforestation and its rate as the central focus of the sentence.
Choose the sentence that makes deforestation the main idea
The correct answer is the one that states the Amazon's huge size as background information and then highlights how much of it is lost each year to deforestation as the main point: “Although it covers 5.5 million square kilometers, the Amazon rainforest loses roughly 10,000 square kilometers of forest to deforestation each year.” This directly emphasizes the rate of deforestation using the relevant note.