Question 63·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While preparing a report, a student has compiled the following notes:
- Coral bleaching occurs when seawater remains 1–2 °C higher than the usual seasonal maximum for an extended period.
- A global bleaching event in 1998 affected 16 % of the world’s coral reefs.
- During that event, Acropora corals lost up to 90 % of their living tissue.
- Marine scientists warn that bleaching events will become more frequent as ocean temperatures continue to rise.
The student wants to explain a cause-and-effect relationship between rising ocean temperatures and coral reef health, supporting the explanation with a specific example. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish these goals?
For questions based on notes that ask you to write or choose a sentence, first underline the exact task words in the stem (for example, “explain a cause-and-effect relationship,” “compare,” or “summarize”). Then, list the key elements your answer must include (here: rising ocean temperatures as the cause, coral reef health as the effect, and a specific example with data). Next, scan the answer choices and quickly eliminate any that (1) miss one of those required elements, (2) add a new, unsupported main idea, or (3) only hint at the relationship instead of stating it clearly. Among the remaining options, prefer the one that uses multiple relevant details from the notes and links them together with clear logical connectors like “because,” “therefore,” or “for instance” to show how the facts
Hints
Restate the task
Underline the words in the question that tell you what the sentence must do. What relationship must be explained, and what kind of support must be included?
Focus on cause and effect
Look at each option and ask: does it explicitly say that rising or higher ocean temperatures cause bleaching or damage to coral reefs, or does it just describe facts without stating a cause?
Look for a concrete example from the notes
Which option not only mentions the cause-and-effect relationship but also uses specific details from the notes—such as the 1–2 °C increase, the year 1998, the 16 %, or the 90 %—to illustrate that relationship?
Avoid answers that shift the focus
Be careful with choices that focus mainly on future predictions, species vulnerability, or general statements without clearly tying them back to rising ocean temperatures and a specific past event.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the question is asking for
The question asks for a sentence that does two things:
- Clearly explain a cause-and-effect relationship between rising ocean temperatures and coral reef health.
- Support that explanation with a specific example using information from the notes.
So the correct choice must both (a) show that higher temperatures cause bleaching or damage to reefs, and (b) include concrete data (like the given temperatures, percentages, or species) as an example.
Check which choices clearly show cause and effect
Now look for choices that explicitly connect rising ocean temperatures (cause) to coral bleaching or reef damage (effect).
- Eliminate any option that only describes what happened (for example, how much tissue a coral lost) without saying it was because of increased temperatures.
- Also eliminate any option that mainly talks about future events or species vulnerability without tying those ideas directly to rising temperatures.
You should be left with choices that clearly state that higher or rising ocean temperatures lead to or trigger coral bleaching or reef harm.
Check for a specific, well-integrated example
Among the remaining choices, see which one uses the notes to provide a specific example that clearly supports the cause-and-effect claim.
The best option will:
- Use one or more of the numbers from the notes (1–2 °C, 16 %, 90 %).
- Connect those numbers directly to the bleaching event and its impact on reefs.
- Use a phrase like "for instance" or similar wording to show that the data is an example illustrating the cause-and-effect relationship.
Avoid a choice that just lists facts from the notes without clearly showing how they illustrate the effect of rising temperatures on reefs.
Choose the sentence that does both jobs best
The only choice that both (1) directly states that rising ocean temperatures can trigger widespread coral bleaching and (2) immediately follows that statement with a specific, numerical example from 1998 (the 1–2 °C increase, bleaching on 16 % of reefs, and up to 90 % tissue loss in Acropora corals) is choice D.
Therefore, the correct answer is:
D) Rising ocean temperatures can trigger widespread coral bleaching; for instance, a 1–2 °C increase in 1998 led to bleaching on 16 % of the world’s reefs and caused Acropora corals to lose up to 90 % of their tissue.