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Expression of Ideas / Rhetorical Synthesis Difficulty: Medium

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

Pinnipeds, which include seals, sea lions, and walruses, live in and around water.
Pinnipeds are descended not from sea animals but from four-legged, land-dwelling carnivores.
Canadian paleobiologist Natalia Rybczynski recently found a fossil with four legs, webbed toes, and the skull and teeth of a seal.
Rybczynski refers to her rare find as a “transitional fossil.”
The fossil illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

The student wants to emphasize the fossil’s significance. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

Canadian paleobiologist Natalia Rybczynski’s fossil has the skull and teeth of a seal, which, like sea lions and walruses, is a pinniped.

Pinnipeds are descended from four-legged, land-dwelling carnivores; a fossil that resembles both was recently found.

Having four legs but the skull and teeth of a seal, the rare fossil illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

A “transitional fossil” was recently found by paleobiologist Natalia Rybczynski.

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Explanation

Choice C is the best answer. The sentence effectively emphasizes the fossil’s significance, explaining that the fossil is rare and illustrates an early stage in the evolution of pinnipeds from their land-dwelling ancestors.

Choice A is incorrect. The sentence describes the fossil Rybczynski found; it doesn’t emphasize the fossil’s significance. Choice B is incorrect. The sentence mentions that a fossil resembling both pinnipeds and their ancestors was found; it doesn’t emphasize the fossil’s significance. Choice D is incorrect. The sentence notes a term used to describe the fossil Rybczynski found; it doesn’t emphasize the fossil’s significance.