SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Tiktaalik roseae is an extinct animal that lived about 375 million years ago.
• Its fossils were discovered in 2004 on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic.
• Tiktaalik had gills and scales like a fish.
• It also had a flexible neck and sturdy fin bones resembling the limb bones of land animals.
• Its mix of features helps scientists understand how vertebrates moved from water to land.
The student wants to emphasize why Tiktaalik is significant to scientists. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Tiktaalik roseae, which lived about 375 million years ago, was discovered on Ellesmere Island in 2004.
With features of both fish and limbed animals, Tiktaalik helps scientists understand how vertebrates moved from water onto land.
Tiktaalik had gills and scales, as well as a flexible neck.
Discovered in the Canadian Arctic, Tiktaalik had sturdy fin bones that resembled limb bones.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Significance means why something matters. Choice B gives that reason: Tiktaalik's mix of fish and limbed-animal features helps explain how vertebrates moved onto land. Choices C and D describe its anatomy without saying why it matters, and choice A gives only when and where it was found.
Choice D describes the limb-like fin bones that make Tiktaalik important but never says why those features matter.
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