Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumFulfilling Specific Rhetorical and Writing Goals

The following passage is about the whistled language of the Canary Islands.

For centuries, the inhabitants of La Gomera, a rugged volcanic island in the Canary Islands, have used a unique whistled language called Silbo Gomero to communicate across deep ravines and narrow valleys. [1] This whistled speech, which mimics the Spanish language's vowels and consonants with high- and low-pitched whistles, allows messages to travel up to five kilometers. In the late twentieth century, however, the rapid expansion of modern telecommunications and roads threatened to make the language obsolete.

The writer wants to add a sentence at Point [1] that highlights the physical demands and skill required to perform Silbo Gomero. Which choice best achieves this goal?

  1. Whistlers must use their fingers, hands, and cheeks to project these sounds, requiring precise breath control and muscle coordination.Answer
  2. B
    Although performing it requires intense physical effort and years of practice to master the necessary mouth shapes.
  3. C
    Whistlers use their hands to alter the sound's pitch, they must blow air with great force to project the whistles.
  4. D
    To produce the loudest whistled sounds; a speaker had to place their fingers in their mouth in a precise shape.

Answer

Whistlers must use their fingers, hands, and cheeks to project these sounds, requiring precise breath control and muscle coordination.
The correct option is grammatically correct and directly fulfills the writer's goal of highlighting the physical demands (using fingers, hands, cheeks, and breath control) and the skill (muscle coordination) required to use Silbo Gomero.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the rhetorical goal specified in the prompt.
The goal is to highlight the physical demands and skill required to perform Silbo Gomero.
Understanding the precise criteria of the goal allows us to eliminate choices that do not address these points.
2
Evaluate the choices for grammatical correctness.
Identify that the option starting with 'Although performing' is a fragment; the option starting with 'Whistlers use' is a comma splice; and the option starting with 'To produce' incorrectly uses a semicolon to set off a phrase.
ACT English questions require any added sentence to be grammatically sound.
3
Select the choice that is both grammatically correct and fulfills the rhetorical goal.
The option stating that whistlers must use fingers, hands, and cheeks, requiring breath control and muscle coordination, is grammatically correct and details physical demands and skill.
This option is the only correct sentence that meets all the criteria of the prompt.

Key Concept

Fulfilling Specific Rhetorical and Writing Goals
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Fulfilling Specific Rhetorical and Writing Goals

More questions from this topic