Question 7·Easy·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching plant adaptations to arid environments, a student has taken the following notes:
- Cacti store water in thick, fleshy stems, allowing them to survive long dry periods.
- Saltbush tolerates saline soils by excreting excess salt through tiny pores in its leaves.
- Both are desert plants adapted to scarce water.
The student wants to emphasize a difference in how cacti and saltbush cope with their environments. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions based on notes, first underline the task words in the prompt (for example, “emphasize a difference,” “show a similarity,” “explain a cause,” etc.). Then, quickly match each answer choice against that goal: eliminate choices that don’t use the key details from the notes, that mention only part of what the question asks about (e.g., only one of two items), or that convey the wrong relationship (similarity instead of difference, summary instead of contrast). Finally, choose the option that uses the most relevant specific details and clearly matches the requested relationship in a single, well-structured sentence.
Hints
Focus on the task word: difference
The question specifically asks to emphasize a difference between cacti and saltbush. Ask yourself: which option clearly contrasts what each one does?
Check how many plants are mentioned
Look at each option and see whether it talks about both cacti and saltbush, or just one, or desert plants in general. To show a difference between two things, both should appear in the sentence.
Use the notes directly
Compare the answer choices with the bullet points: which choice uses the specific information about cacti (water storage in stems) and saltbush (excreting salt through leaf pores) rather than just summarizing generally?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the goal of the sentence
The prompt says the student wants to emphasize a difference in how cacti and saltbush cope with their environments. So the correct sentence must:
- Mention both cacti and saltbush.
- Focus on how they cope (their specific adaptations).
- Make the difference between them clear (often using contrast words like "whereas," "while," or similar).
Eliminate choices that don’t mention both plants or don’t show a difference
Check each option against the goal:
- Choice A talks about "desert plants" in general and doesn’t name either cactus or saltbush or describe how each copes.
- Choice B talks only about saltbush, not cacti, so it can’t emphasize a difference between the two.
- Choice D mentions both cacti and saltbush, but it says they are both adapted to scarce water, which emphasizes a similarity, not a difference. That leaves only one choice that can meet the goal.
Confirm the remaining choice uses relevant details and contrasts them
The remaining choice must:
- Include cacti’s method of coping from the notes (storing water in thick, fleshy stems).
- Include saltbush’s method of coping from the notes (excreting excess salt through leaf pores).
- Clearly contrast these two methods in one sentence. Choice C does exactly this: "Whereas cacti conserve water by storing it in thick stems, saltbush copes by excreting excess salt through its leaves." This is the correct answer.