Question 75·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• In a recent experiment, neuroscientist Carla Reyes asked volunteers to memorize a list of 60 foreign-language words.
• Half of the participants were permitted a 90-minute nap within an hour of the learning session.
• EEG recordings revealed that during deep sleep, bursts of brain activity known as sleep spindles coincided with reactivation in language-processing areas.
• Upon waking, nappers correctly recalled 31% more words than their non-napping peers.
• Reyes concluded that sleeping soon after learning speeds memory consolidation.
The student wants to emphasize the study’s principal finding in one sentence. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For questions asking for the “principal finding” or best summary of notes, first underline the note(s) that show the main outcome and the researcher’s conclusion or claim. Then quickly scan the choices and eliminate any that (1) focus only on methods or technical details (like equipment or brain-wave patterns), (2) leave out either the key result or the stated conclusion, or (3) add information that does not appear in the notes. Among the remaining options, choose the one that most precisely and completely restates both the core result and its meaning in a single clear sentence.
Hints
Focus on the main result, not the setup
Look for the note that tells you what happened as a result of allowing some participants to nap, rather than how the experiment was conducted or what tools were used.
Include both the outcome and the takeaway
Which notes describe how much nappers improved and what the researcher concluded that improvement means for memory?
Watch out for extra or missing information
Eliminate any choice that talks mostly about EEG patterns or that brings in information about a different researcher, since that’s not in the notes.
Be precise, not vague
Between choices that say nappers did "more" or "better" and those that use the exact percentage and conclusion given in the notes, which better captures the principal finding?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify what the question is asking for
The question asks for the study’s principal finding in one sentence. That means you need the main result or takeaway, not background, procedure, or minor details.
Look for the note that tells you what happened in the experiment and what the researcher concluded from that result.
Locate the main outcome and conclusion in the notes
From the notes, two bullets clearly describe the key result and its meaning:
- "Upon waking, nappers correctly recalled 31% more words than their non-napping peers."
- "Reyes concluded that sleeping soon after learning speeds memory consolidation."
Together, these show: (1) what happened (31% better recall for nappers) and (2) what it means (early sleep speeds memory consolidation). A strong sentence about the principal finding should include both the improved recall and the idea that sleep soon after learning helps memory.
Eliminate choices that don’t express that main finding
Now compare each option to those two key notes:
- Any choice that focuses only on EEG or brain activity but not the memory result or conclusion is too narrow.
- Any choice that leaves out the idea that sleep soon after learning helps memory consolidation is incomplete.
- Any choice that adds new information not in the notes (like mentioning a different researcher) cannot be correct.
Use these tests to rule out options that don't match what the notes highlight as the main finding.
Match the best summary to the notes
Option B says that giving participants a 90-minute nap shortly after learning foreign words led to a 31% improvement in recall compared with those who stayed awake and that this demonstrates early sleep accelerates memory consolidation. This directly restates both the key result and the researcher’s conclusion from the notes, so B is the correct answer.