SAT Reading and Writing Practice Test: Rhetorical Synthesis
- Rhetorical Synthesis
- 10 questions
- 12 minutes
These 10 questions practice Rhetorical Synthesis, an Expression of Ideas skill on the digital SAT. Read the goal before the notes: the right choice is the one that does exactly what the goal asks, even if another choice contains more facts.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Mississippi River is about 2,340 miles long.
- It begins at Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota.
- It flows generally south through the central United States.
- It reaches the sea in southern Louisiana.
The student wants to emphasize where the Mississippi River begins and ends. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: A
Only this choice names both the starting point (Lake Itasca) and the end (southern Louisiana). The other choices give the length or the direction, which the goal does not ask for.
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Question 2
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Mary Anning (1799-1847) was an English fossil collector.
- She searched the cliffs near Lyme Regis, a town on England's southern coast.
- In 1823 she found a nearly complete skeleton of a plesiosaur.
- A plesiosaur was a large marine reptile that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.
The student wants to introduce Mary Anning and her 1823 find to an audience unfamiliar with her. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: C
An unfamiliar audience needs to learn who Anning was and what a plesiosaur is, and this choice explains both. The second choice names her find but never says who she was or what a plesiosaur is, and the first leaves her out entirely.
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Question 3
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system.
- Its average surface temperature is about 465°C.
- Mars has an average surface temperature of about −60°C.
- Venus is closer to the Sun than Earth is, and Mars is farther away.
The student wants to contrast the surface temperatures of Venus and Mars. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: B
The goal is a contrast of temperatures, so both planets' temperatures must appear, and only this choice gives both. The choices about orbits compare distances, and the last one mentions only Mars's temperature.
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Question 4
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Honeybees live in colonies that can contain tens of thousands of workers.
- Most species of ants also live in colonies.
- In both honeybee and ant colonies, a queen typically lays the eggs.
- Honeybees build combs out of wax, while ants usually nest in soil or wood.
The student wants to emphasize a similarity between honeybee colonies and ant colonies. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: D
A queen laying the eggs is a feature the two kinds of colonies share, so this choice shows a similarity. The comb and nest choices describe a difference, and the colony-size choice mentions only honeybees.
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Question 5
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) was a scientist and monk in Brno, in today's Czech Republic.
- Between 1856 and 1863, he bred and studied thousands of pea plants.
- He wanted to understand how traits such as flower color pass from parents to offspring.
- His results later became a foundation of the science of genetics.
The student wants to explain the aim of Mendel's experiments with pea plants. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: B
The aim is what Mendel wanted to find out, and this choice states it with "to learn how traits... pass." The first choice describes the later impact of his work, not its purpose.
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Question 6
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Pacific is the largest of Earth's oceans.
- It covers about one-third of Earth's surface.
- The Mariana Trench, the deepest known point in the oceans, lies in the western Pacific.
- The explorer Ferdinand Magellan gave the ocean its name in the 1500s.
The student wants to emphasize the size of the Pacific Ocean. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: D
Being the largest ocean and covering about a third of the surface both describe size. The Mariana Trench concerns depth, and Magellan concerns the name, so those choices miss the goal.
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Question 7
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Venus flytrap is a plant native to wetlands in North and South Carolina.
- Each trap is formed by a pair of leaf lobes lined with small trigger hairs.
- When an insect touches the trigger hairs twice within about 20 seconds, the trap snaps shut.
- The plant then digests the insect to obtain nutrients that are scarce in its soil.
The student wants to explain what causes a Venus flytrap's trap to close. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: A
The goal asks for the cause of the closing, and only this choice states the trigger: two touches within about 20 seconds. The other choices describe the plant's habitat, structure or digestion.
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Question 8
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The first transcontinental railroad in the United States was completed in 1869.
- The final spike was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah.
- The Central Pacific Railroad built eastward from Sacramento, California.
- The Union Pacific Railroad built westward from the Omaha, Nebraska, area.
The student wants to emphasize when and where the first transcontinental railroad was completed. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: C
Only this choice gives both the year (1869) and the place (Promontory Summit, Utah). The last choice names the place but leaves out when it happened.
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Question 9
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Alligators and crocodiles are both large reptiles.
- Alligators have a wide, U-shaped snout.
- Crocodiles have a narrower, V-shaped snout.
- When a crocodile closes its mouth, the fourth tooth of its lower jaw remains visible.
The student wants to describe a difference in snout shape between alligators and crocodiles. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: C
This choice contrasts the two snout shapes directly. The tooth detail is a real difference but not about snout shape, and the last choice describes only the crocodile's snout.
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Question 10
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Leaves look green in summer because they contain a large amount of chlorophyll.
- Leaves also contain yellow and orange pigments called carotenoids.
- As days shorten in autumn, many trees stop making chlorophyll, and it breaks down.
- Without the green chlorophyll, the yellow and orange pigments become visible.
The student wants to explain why many leaves turn yellow or orange in autumn. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Correct answer: B
The explanation needs the cause and the effect: chlorophyll breaks down, which uncovers pigments that were there all along. The last choice gives only the cause and never mentions the yellow and orange colors.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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