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Difficulty: MediumEvaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

A writer is editing an essay about the discovery of the coelacanth and has drafted the following paragraph:

In 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a curator at a small museum in South Africa, received a call from Hendrick Goosen, a local fishing captain. Goosen was known for his skilled navigation of the challenging waters of the Indian Ocean. Courtenay-Latimer frequently searched Goosen’s catches for interesting marine specimens. On this particular day, she found a bright blue, five-foot-long creature with fleshy, limb-like fins that she could not identify.

Should the writer delete the underlined sentence?

  1. A
    Yes, because the sentence introduces a scientific claim about the Indian Ocean that is not supported by evidence in the passage.
  2. B
    No, because the sentence establishes Goosen’s credibility as a captain, explaining why his catches were uniquely valuable to the museum.
  3. Yes, because the sentence interrupts the paragraph's focus on Courtenay-Latimer’s discovery with irrelevant details about Goosen’s navigation skills.Answer
  4. D
    No, because the sentence provides essential geographic context that explains how the coelacanth was able to survive extinction.

Answer

Yes, because the sentence interrupts the paragraph's focus on Courtenay-Latimer’s discovery with irrelevant details about Goosen’s navigation skills.
The correct option correctly identifies that the sentence should be deleted because it interrupts the narrative focus on Courtenay-Latimer’s discovery of the strange fish with irrelevant details about Goosen’s navigation skills.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the main focus of the paragraph.
The paragraph describes how Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer went to inspect Hendrick Goosen's catch in 1938 and found an unidentified, unusual fish.
Understanding the paragraph's primary focus is essential for evaluating whether a sentence is relevant or tangential.
2
Evaluate the relevance of the underlined sentence to this main focus.
The underlined sentence describes Goosen's navigation skills in the Indian Ocean. This detail is not necessary to understand the meeting or the discovery of the fish.
This determines if the sentence should be deleted or kept based on relevance.
3
Match the decision to delete the sentence with the correct rhetorical reason.
The sentence should be deleted because it interrupts the focus of the paragraph with irrelevant details about Goosen's navigation skills.
This allows us to select the option that has both the correct decision (Yes) and the correct logical justification.

Key Concept

Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Evaluating Relevance for Adding or Deleting Content

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