Question

Which is the best retelling of the passage?

A. Sloths are helpful animals who move slowly to protect themselves. They are good swimmers who spend most of the day asleep in tropical trees of South America. Because they don't move too much, algae grows on their fur. Animals like birds eat the algae, and the fungi it contains may fight cancer.
B. Sloths stay in trees all day and look like monkeys. They are related to armadillos, but they are good swimmers. Algae grows on their fur. They sleep up to 20 hours a day. This keeps them safe, and they can feed the birds with their algae. They also have fungi that fights cancer.
C. Sloths are very friendly to people and animals. They are related to armadillos, and they make food for birds. They also make fungi to fight cancer in humans. Sloths are protected by algae and moving so slowly that no one can see them. This helps them stay safe to help others.
D. Sloths are friendly, cancer-fighting animals who sleep in trees of tropical forests. They move so slowly that algae grows on their fur, and they swim very well. Predators cannot see them, but birds eat the algae and the fungi in the algae may help cure cancer. This is why sloths are such important animals.

Answer 1

Option A is the best retelling, accurately describing sloths' slow movement, algae-covered fur, and potential cancer-fighting fungi. It avoids subjective descriptions yet emphasizes sloths' ecological roles and adaptive behaviors in their habitat.

Step-by-step explanation:

Among the given retellings, option A provides the most accurate summary of a passage about sloths. This retelling commits to facts by mentioning that sloths move slowly as a protective mechanism, and that algae grows on their fur, which can be consumed by other animals like birds. Furthermore, it correctly asserts that the fungi which may be found within this algae has the potential to fight cancer.

However, it is important to note that being 'helpful' is a subjective term, and while sloths do contribute to their ecosystem, they do so not out of intention to be 'helpful' but as a part of the natural symbiotic relationships that exist in their environment.

It is also essential to understand that while sloths are indeed good swimmers and spend much of their time in trees in tropical areas of South America, the retelling should avoid anthropomorphizing sloths by describing them as 'helpful' in human terms, as their behaviors are instinctive survival adaptations rather than conscious actions.