Identify partial information

Rhetorical Synthesis questions give you a set of notes and a specific goal, such as summarizing a study or giving an overview.
The best answer uses the notes to do everything the goal asks.
A partial choice does only part of the goal and leaves out the rest.

First, read the goal carefully and note every part it asks for.
Then check each choice against all of those parts.
A choice that covers only some of them is partial, even if everything it says is true.

A student has taken these notes:
- Cacao beans are harvested from cacao trees.
- The beans are dried and roasted.
- The roasted beans are ground into chocolate.
The student wants to give an overview of how chocolate is made, from start to finish.
Choice A: Cacao beans are harvested from cacao trees.
Choice B: Cacao beans are harvested, then dried and roasted, and finally ground into chocolate.
Choice A is partial, because it covers only the first step. Choice B covers the whole process, so Choice B is correct.

Partial choices are tricky because everything they say is accurate.
The problem is what they leave out.
So always match a choice against every part of the goal, not just one.

A student has taken these notes:
- Tea is grown and picked by workers on plantations in India.
- The tea is packaged and shipped abroad.
- It is sold to buyers in Europe and North America.
The student wants to give an overview of the whole tea supply chain, from start to end.
Choice A: Tea is grown and picked by workers on plantations in India.
Choice B: Tea grown by plantation workers in India is shipped abroad and sold to buyers in Europe and North America.
Choice A is partial, because it covers only the start of the chain. Choice B covers both ends, so Choice B is correct.

A student has taken these notes:
- Marie Curie developed X-ray machines used in hospitals.
- Lise Meitner helped explain nuclear fission in theory.
The student wants to contrast the two scientists' contributions.
Choice A: Marie Curie developed X-ray machines used in hospitals.
Choice B: Curie developed practical X-ray machines, while Meitner made a theoretical breakthrough in nuclear fission.
Choice A is partial, because it describes only Curie and never contrasts her with Meitner. Choice B contrasts both, so Choice B is correct.

A student has taken these notes:
- A study tested a new fertilizer on tomato plants.
- Plants given the fertilizer grew taller than plants with none.
- The taller plants also produced more tomatoes.
The student wants to summarize the study's main findings.
Choice A: The study tested a new fertilizer on tomato plants.
Choice B: Plants given the new fertilizer grew taller and produced more tomatoes than plants with none.
Choice A is partial, because it gives the setup but not the findings. Choice B states the findings, so Choice B is correct.