Question 56·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While preparing a presentation, a student has taken the following notes:
- Mary Anning (1799–1847) was an English fossil collector and amateur paleontologist from Lyme Regis on England’s southern coast.
- In 1811, at age 12, she discovered the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton, now housed in the Natural History Museum, London.
- Her subsequent finds, including plesiosaurs and pterosaurs, challenged contemporary ideas about Earth’s history.
- Though self-taught, she corresponded with eminent geologists such as Henry De la Beche.
The student will introduce Anning’s scientific contributions to an audience unfamiliar with her work. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For note-based rhetorical synthesis questions, start by underlining the task wording (for example, “introduce X’s contributions” or “summarize the problem”). Then, quickly mark in the notes which items directly support that task (here, discoveries and their impact) and which are side details (locations, correspondence, personal background). Eliminate choices that focus on side details or only use one small piece of relevant information. Choose the option that (1) clearly names the subject, (2) includes the most relevant notes, and (3) matches the stated purpose (such as introducing, summarizing, or explaining significance) in a single, complete sentence.
Hints
Focus on the goal of the introduction
The question is about introducing Mary Anning’s scientific contributions to people who don’t know her. Which notes talk about what she actually discovered and why it mattered, rather than about her personal background?
Separate main ideas from side details
Look at the notes and decide which information is central to understanding her importance as a scientist (discoveries and impact) and which information is extra (like where a fossil is now or who she wrote letters to).
Match answer choices to the most relevant notes
Check each choice: Does it describe what fossils she found and how those finds affected scientific thinking, or does it focus on secondary details like her education, correspondence, or the fossil’s current location?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the task in the question
The question asks which choice will introduce Anning’s scientific contributions to an audience unfamiliar with her work.
So the right answer must:
- Clearly name Mary Anning
- Describe what she did scientifically (her discoveries)
- Show why those discoveries mattered (their impact)
- Use information from the notes, not outside details.
Decide which notes are about contributions and impact
Look back at the four notes and sort them by type:
- Note 1: basic background (who she was, where she was from)
- Note 2: a major discovery (first complete ichthyosaur skeleton) and a minor detail (where it is now)
- Note 3: later discoveries (plesiosaurs and pterosaurs) and their impact (they challenged ideas about Earth’s history)
- Note 4: her being self-taught and her correspondence with geologists
For scientific contributions, the key information is:
- Her discoveries (from notes 2 and 3)
- The fact that they challenged ideas about Earth’s history (note 3)
Details about her training, correspondence, or where the fossil is now are less important for introducing contributions.
Check which options match the goal and key notes
Now compare each answer choice to the goal and the relevant notes:
- Choice A focuses on her lack of formal training and her correspondence with geologists (note 4). That’s background about her life, not her scientific contributions.
- Choice B mentions the ichthyosaur skeleton and where it’s displayed (part of note 2), but says nothing about why her work was important or what else she found.
- Choice D talks generally about fossil collectors and mentions plesiosaurs and pterosaurs (part of note 3), but it doesn’t clearly present Mary Anning’s own main contributions or identify her discoveries specifically.
Only one choice directly combines her specific discoveries (ichthyosaur, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs) with their impact (challenging ideas about Earth’s history), which is exactly what we want for an introduction to her scientific contributions.
Select the option that fully and directly introduces her contributions
The best answer is the one that clearly names Mary Anning, states her major early find, and then connects her later discoveries to their scientific impact. That is choice C:
“In 1811, 12-year-old Mary Anning of Lyme Regis unearthed the first complete ichthyosaur skeleton, and her later discoveries, including plesiosaurs and pterosaurs, challenged contemporary ideas about Earth’s history.”
This sentence uses the most relevant notes and directly introduces her scientific contributions to readers who don’t already know her.