Question 63·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
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Monarch butterflies weigh about 0.5 grams and migrate up to 3,000 miles from Canada to central Mexico.
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Arctic terns weigh about 100 grams and migrate roughly 18,600 miles round-trip between the Arctic and Antarctica.
The student wants to highlight how impressive the monarch butterfly’s migration is in light of its size. Which choice most effectively uses information from the notes to achieve this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first underline the specific goal in the question stem (for example, “highlight how impressive X is because of Y”). Then quickly interpret the key data in the notes (often by comparing sizes, percentages, or extremes) so you know the point the writer wants to make. Next, test each answer: it must be factually accurate based on the notes and it must directly fulfill the goal—emphasizing the right idea, with the right focus and tone. Eliminate choices that merely list facts, shift the focus to the wrong subject, or make the intended subject seem less impressive.
Hints
Clarify the goal of the sentence
Look back at the question stem: what exactly does the student want to emphasize about the monarch butterfly’s migration? Is it just the distance, or the distance in relation to something else?
Use the numbers to compare the two animals
Think about how the monarch’s distance and weight compare to the Arctic tern’s. Which is a bigger contrast: the difference in distance or the difference in size?
Check which option makes the monarch seem impressive
Ask yourself for each choice: does this sentence make the monarch’s journey sound more amazing because it is so small, or does it just state facts or even make the journey sound less impressive?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the writer’s goal
The question says the student “wants to highlight how impressive the monarch butterfly’s migration is in light of its size.”
That means the best sentence must:
- Focus on the monarch butterfly, not the tern.
- Use information from the notes.
- Emphasize that the monarch’s migration is remarkable because it is so small.
Interpret the data in the notes
From the notes:
- Monarch butterfly: 0.5 grams, migrates up to 3,000 miles.
- Arctic tern: 100 grams, migrates about 18,600 miles.
Now compare them:
- Distance: , so the monarch travels about one-sixth as far as the tern.
- Weight: , so the monarch weighs less than 1% as much as the tern.
The key idea the sentence should show is: even though the monarch is tiny compared with the tern, it still migrates a huge distance.
Choose the option that emphasizes the monarch’s impressive effort
Now check which option both uses the numbers correctly and highlights how impressive the monarch’s migration is given its small size.
- Some options just list facts without emphasizing why the monarch is remarkable.
- Some focus more on how impressive the tern is or make the monarch’s trip sound less impressive.
Only choice B: “The monarch butterfly may travel only a sixth of the distance covered by the Arctic tern, but it undertakes the trip while weighing less than 1 percent as much.” does everything we need:
- It accurately uses the ratios from the notes (about one-sixth the distance, less than 1% the weight).
- It uses the contrast word “but” to stress that despite the shorter distance, the monarch’s tiny size makes its journey especially impressive.
Therefore, choice B is correct.