Question

Difficulty: HardSupporting Claims with Evidence and Details

[1] In the late nineteenth century, Marianne North defied Victorian conventions by traveling alone to document the world's flora through her vibrant oil paintings. [2] Unlike contemporary botanists who relied on dried, pressed specimens, North insisted on painting plants in their natural environments. [3] Her vast body of work, which includes over 800 paintings, was not only artistically remarkable but also scientifically invaluable. [4] Indeed, she captured details of plant physiology that were lost in dried museum specimens, such as ________.

The writer wants to revise the underlined portion of sentence 4 to provide the most specific, concrete visual details that illustrate the plant physiology details captured by North. Given that all the choices are true, which one best accomplishes this goal?

  1. the intricate, pitcher-shaped leaves of *Nepenthes northiana*, showcasing their crimson speckles and waxy rims.Answer
  2. B
    several plants that she discovered during her travels in the tropical rainforests of Borneo.
  3. C
    the structures of tropical flowers, she painted them in vivid hues to highlight their form.
  4. D
    although she illustrated the distinctive parts of giant trees, including their branching networks.

Answer

the intricate, pitcher-shaped leaves of *Nepenthes northiana*, showcasing their crimson speckles and waxy rims.
The correct choice provides specific, concrete visual details—'intricate, pitcher-shaped leaves' and 'crimson speckles and waxy rims'—that directly illustrate the plant physiology details captured by North.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the prompt to identify the specific rhetorical goal.
The goal is to find the option that provides the most specific, concrete visual details illustrating the details of plant physiology.
This establishes the criteria for evaluating the choices.
2
Evaluate the choices for grammatical correctness.
The option beginning with 'the structures of tropical flowers' is a comma splice, and the option starting with 'although' is a sentence fragment. Both are grammatically incorrect.
Eliminating grammatically incorrect options narrows the choices to those that are syntactically sound.
3
Compare the remaining grammatically correct options against the rhetorical goal.
The option mentioning 'several plants' is vague and geographical, whereas the option describing the 'intricate, pitcher-shaped leaves... crimson speckles and waxy rims' provides specific, concrete visual details of plant physiology.
Selecting the option that best fulfills the specified rhetorical goal determines the correct answer.

Key Concept

Supporting Claims with Evidence and Details
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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