Rhetorical Synthesis

SAT Reading and Writing· difficulty 4/5

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

<ul> <li>To estimate population sizes of fish, biologists use mark-recapture or hydroacoustic surveys.</li> <li>Mark-recapture: capture, tag, release, then sample again later to estimate population.</li> <li>Hydroacoustic: use sonar to count fish from a boat in real time.</li> <li>Mark-recapture is labor-intensive and stressful for animals.</li> <li>Hydroacoustic is faster but cannot identify species reliably.</li> </ul> The student wants to contrast the two methods' tradeoffs. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Which choice most effectively makes the student's point?

  • A

    Hydroacoustic surveys use sonar from a boat.

  • B

    Both methods estimate fish populations.

  • C

    Mark-recapture involves tagging fish.

  • D

    Mark-recapture is labor-intensive and stressful for animals; hydroacoustic is faster but cannot reliably identify species.

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Explanation

The goal is methodological tradeoffs. Choice B pairs each method's downside. A is similarity, C and D describe one method each.

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