SAT Rhetorical Synthesis Practice — Drill 4

The student wants to explain what makes the Oregon specimen noteworthy from a biological standpoint. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A The Oregon specimen of Armillaria ostoyae covers an estimated 2,385 acres of forest land.
2. B Because genetic testing confirmed identical DNA throughout, the Oregon specimen is considered, biologically, to be a single organism spanning 2,385 acres.
3. C Armillaria ostoyae spreads underground through root-like structures that can connect across large areas.
4. D The Oregon specimen is estimated to be at least 2,400 years old, making it one of the oldest known organisms.

The student wants to explain the underlying mechanism that causes a geyser to erupt. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A Geysers erupt when groundwater, heated to steam by nearby volcanic rock, builds pressure in narrow channels until it is forced upward explosively.
2. B Yellowstone National Park is home to a number of well-known geological features.
3. C Old Faithful, located in Yellowstone National Park, erupts roughly every 60 to 110 minutes.
4. D Old Faithful's relatively predictable eruption timing has made it a major tourist attraction.

The student wants to state both the human and agricultural causes of the Dust Bowl. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A The Dust Bowl was caused partly by a prolonged drought and partly by farming practices that stripped away the native grasses holding the soil in place.
2. B The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that damaged farmland across the Great Plains in the 1930s.
3. C In response to the Dust Bowl, the federal government promoted new soil conservation techniques.
4. D Hundreds of thousands of families migrated west, particularly to California, seeking work.

The student wants to explain how Johnson came up with the idea for his invention. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A Lonnie Johnson is known for inventing a powerful water gun design that became one of the best-selling toys in history.
2. B Lonnie Johnson worked as an engineer at NASA before becoming an inventor.
3. C Johnson spent years refining the design and seeking a manufacturer willing to produce it.
4. D While testing an unrelated heat pump idea by connecting a nozzle to his bathroom sink, Johnson noticed the resulting water stream was unusually powerful, sparking the idea for his invention.

The student wants to state why the Pony Express stopped operating despite its earlier success. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A Riders covered roughly 1,900 miles between Missouri and California, changing horses every 10 to 15 miles.
2. B The Pony Express mail service operated for only about eighteen months, from 1860 to 1861.
3. C Despite dramatically reducing mail delivery time, the Pony Express ceased operations shortly after the transcontinental telegraph, which delivered messages almost instantly, was completed.
4. D The service dramatically reduced mail delivery time between the coasts, from weeks to about ten days.

The student wants to summarize a surprising finding of the pilot program. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A Although parking permit sales dropped sharply, researchers found no significant change in vehicle ownership, suggesting students simply drove to campus less rather than giving up their cars.
2. B Public transit policy has been debated by university administrators for decades.
3. C A pilot program provided free public transit to all students at a mid-sized university for one academic year.
4. D Campus parking permit sales dropped by 22% during the pilot year.

The student wants to emphasize the specific mechanism by which the frog becomes toxic. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A The golden mantella frog, native to eastern Madagascar, is a small but strikingly colored amphibian.
2. B The golden mantella frog is found only in a small region of Madagascar and nowhere else in the world.
3. C Rather than producing its own toxins, the golden mantella frog accumulates alkaloid toxins from the ants and mites it eats, a fact confirmed by the non-toxicity of captive-bred frogs raised on toxin-free diets.
4. D Many species of frogs use toxins in their skin as a defense against predators.

The student wants to emphasize the extraordinary total lifetime distance an Arctic tern may travel. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A The Arctic tern migrates from its Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctica and back again each year.
2. B Given that individual terns can live over 30 years and travel roughly 44,000 miles annually, some may cover more than a million miles in a lifetime.
3. C The Arctic tern's round-trip annual migration covers roughly 44,000 miles.
4. D Because it experiences summer in both hemispheres, the Arctic tern sees more daylight annually than any other animal.

The student wants to explain why Goldman invented the shopping cart. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

1. A The modern shopping cart was invented by grocery store owner Sylvan Goldman in 1937.
2. B His original design combined a folding chair frame with two wire baskets.
3. C After introducing the cart, Goldman's stores reported a significant increase in average purchases.
4. D After noticing that customers stopped shopping once their hand-carried baskets became too heavy or full, Goldman designed a cart to solve this specific problem.