SAT rhetorical synthesis questions: how to answer them

Which sentence uses a student's notes to meet a stated goal.

Practise rhetorical synthesis →Timed module

What the question looks like

Each question has its own short text (a passage, a pair of texts, a table or a student's notes) and four options. The usual question is: Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

How to answer it

  1. Read the goal first and underline its key words: emphasise, contrast, explain, introduce, to an audience unfamiliar with...
  2. Skip the notes at first: most options are accurate, so the goal decides.
  3. Choose the option that does everything the goal asks, and check it against the notes for accuracy.

Common traps

In the harder second module

Hard goals have two parts or an audience condition. Read the goal word by word.

Worked example

Worked example (easier)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The Silver Line is a new train route in Harbor City.
  • It opened in 2024.
  • It connects the airport to the city center.
  • The trip takes 18 minutes.

The student wants to tell readers how long the trip on the Silver Line takes. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Harbor City's Silver Line opened in 2024.
  2. The Silver Line, which opened in 2024, takes 18 minutes to travel from the airport to Harbor City's center.
  3. The Silver Line is a new train route in Harbor City.
  4. The Silver Line connects the airport to the city center.

Answer: B: The Silver Line, which opened in 2024, takes 18 minutes to travel from the airport to Harbor City's center.

Only this choice gives the travel time (18 minutes).

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: This gives the opening date, not the trip length.
  • C: No travel time is given.
  • D: This gives the route, not the trip length.

Practice questions

Try each one before you open the answer. Every answer explains why the right option is right and why each of the other three is wrong. Answers to the first 4 are open to everyone; the rest need only a free account. Questions use American English, as the SAT does.

Question 1 (medium)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places on Earth.
  • Some weather stations there have recorded almost no rain for decades.
  • Astronomers have built several large telescopes in the Atacama.
  • Dry, clear air means less water vapor to block or blur starlight.

The student wants to explain why the Atacama is a good place for telescopes. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Astronomers have built several large telescopes in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
  2. The Atacama Desert in Chile is one of the driest places on Earth, with some stations recording almost no rain for decades.
  3. Because the Atacama's air is so dry and clear, there is little water vapor to block or blur starlight, making it an excellent site for telescopes.
  4. Some weather stations in Chile's Atacama Desert have recorded almost no rain in decades.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: C: Because the Atacama's air is so dry and clear, there is little water vapor to block or blur starlight, making it an excellent site for telescopes.

The goal is an explanation. This choice links dry air to less water vapor and clearer starlight.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: This states that telescopes are there but not why.
  • B: This describes the dryness but does not connect it to telescopes.
  • D: This gives a rainfall detail without the reason it matters to astronomers.

Question 2 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Many plants in the pea family host bacteria in nodules on their roots.
  • The bacteria convert nitrogen from the air into a form plants can use.
  • Farmers sometimes plant peas or clover before other crops.
  • Corn grown after clover in a 2021 trial needed 40% less fertilizer.
  • Fertilizer production uses large amounts of energy.

The student wants to present the 2021 trial's result as evidence of a practical benefit for farmers. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Clover and peas belong to the pea family, many of whose members host nitrogen-converting bacteria in root nodules.
  2. Fertilizer production uses large amounts of energy, so reducing fertilizer use has environmental benefits.
  3. In a 2021 trial, corn planted after clover, a plant whose root bacteria turn nitrogen from the air into a usable form, needed 40% less fertilizer, a potential savings for farmers.
  4. Farmers sometimes plant peas or clover before other crops, and many pea-family plants host root bacteria.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: C: In a 2021 trial, corn planted after clover, a plant whose root bacteria turn nitrogen from the air into a usable form, needed 40% less fertilizer, a potential savings for farmers.

The goal requires the trial's result (40% less fertilizer) framed as a benefit to farmers. Only this choice does both.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: This explains the biology but omits the trial.
  • B: This mentions an environmental benefit but not the trial or a benefit to farmers.
  • D: This describes a practice but not the trial's result.

Question 3 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Two methods were used to clean an oil spill on a beach.
  • Method 1: high-pressure hot water.
  • Method 2: leaving the oil for natural bacteria to break down.
  • After two years, beach life recovered faster where Method 2 was used.
  • Hot water killed many small organisms living in the sand.

The student wants to present a surprising finding and offer a possible reason for it. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. After two years, the beach where bacteria broke down the oil had recovered.
  2. Two methods were used to clean an oil spill on a beach: high-pressure hot water and natural bacteria.
  3. Surprisingly, beach life recovered faster where oil was left for bacteria to break down than where it was washed away with hot water, perhaps because the hot water killed many small organisms in the sand.
  4. High-pressure hot water killed many of the small organisms living in the sand.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: C: Surprisingly, beach life recovered faster where oil was left for bacteria to break down than where it was washed away with hot water, perhaps because the hot water killed many small organisms in the sand.

The surprising finding is that doing nothing worked better; the reason offered is the harm caused by hot water. Only this choice gives both.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: This omits the comparison that makes the finding surprising.
  • B: This describes the methods only.
  • D: This gives a possible reason without the surprising finding.

Question 4 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The city of Medellín, Colombia, built outdoor escalators in a hillside neighborhood in 2011.
  • Before the escalators, residents climbed the equivalent of 28 stories of stairs.
  • The escalators cut the trip from about 35 minutes to about 6.
  • The project included new public spaces along the route.

The student wants to quantify how much the escalators changed residents' journeys. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Medellín built outdoor escalators that included new public spaces along the route.
  2. Medellín's hillside escalators, opened in 2011, cut residents' trip from about 35 minutes to about 6.
  3. In 2011, the city of Medellín, Colombia, built outdoor escalators in a hillside neighborhood.
  4. Before 2011, residents of a hillside neighborhood in Medellín climbed the equivalent of 28 stories of stairs.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: B: Medellín's hillside escalators, opened in 2011, cut residents' trip from about 35 minutes to about 6.

The change is quantified by comparing journey times before and after: 35 minutes to 6.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: This describes a feature of the project, not the change in journeys.
  • C: This describes the project without any measure of change.
  • D: This gives a figure for the climb before, but not how the journey changed.

Question 5 (medium)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Octavia Rhodes was a 20th-century American architect.
  • She designed the Fairmont Public Library (1958).
  • She designed the Kessler Concert Hall (1964).
  • Both buildings use large curved concrete roofs.

The student wants to emphasize a similarity between two of Rhodes's buildings. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Octavia Rhodes designed the Fairmont Public Library in 1958 and the Kessler Concert Hall in 1964.
  2. The Kessler Concert Hall was designed six years after the Fairmont Public Library.
  3. Octavia Rhodes, a 20th-century American architect, designed the Fairmont Public Library.
  4. Both the Fairmont Public Library and the Kessler Concert Hall, designed by Octavia Rhodes, have large curved concrete roofs.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 6 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Linguist Helena Moraes studied whistled languages.
  • In whistled languages, speech is converted into whistles that carry over long distances.
  • Silbo Gomero is a whistled form of Spanish used on La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
  • Sfyria is a whistled form of Greek used in the village of Antia.
  • Whistled speech can be understood up to several kilometers away.

The student wants to introduce whistled languages to an audience unfamiliar with them, using one example. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Silbo Gomero and Sfyria are two whistled languages, one based on Spanish and the other on Greek.
  2. Whistled languages convert speech into whistles that can be understood up to several kilometers away; one example is Silbo Gomero, a whistled form of Spanish used on La Gomera.
  3. Helena Moraes is a linguist who has studied whistled languages.
  4. Sfyria is used in the Greek village of Antia, while Silbo Gomero is used on La Gomera.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 7 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The Great Molasses Flood happened in Boston in 1919.
  • A storage tank holding about 8.7 million liters of molasses burst.
  • A wave of molasses swept through the streets.
  • Investigators later found the tank had been poorly built and never properly tested.
  • The disaster led to stricter rules for checking building plans in Massachusetts.

The student wants to emphasize the long-term consequence of the disaster. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. In 1919, a tank holding about 8.7 million liters of molasses burst in Boston, sending a wave through the streets.
  2. The Great Molasses Flood happened in Boston in 1919, when a poorly built storage tank burst.
  3. Investigators found that the tank that caused Boston's 1919 molasses flood had never been properly tested.
  4. After investigators found that the tank in Boston's 1919 molasses flood had been poorly built and never properly tested, Massachusetts introduced stricter rules for checking building plans.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 8 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Two cities installed public water fountains in parks.
  • City A placed fountains next to playgrounds.
  • City B placed fountains near park entrances.
  • Fountain use in City A was three times higher than in City B.
  • Both cities installed the same model of fountain.

The student wants to contrast the two cities' approaches and their results. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. City B placed its fountains near park entrances, which is where most visitors enter.
  2. While City A placed its fountains next to playgrounds, City B placed the same model near park entrances, and fountain use in City A was three times higher.
  3. City A and City B both installed the same model of water fountain in their parks.
  4. Fountain use in City A was three times higher than in City B.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 9 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming noticed mold growing on a dish of bacteria.
  • The bacteria around the mold had died.
  • The mold produced a substance later named penicillin.
  • Penicillin was not mass-produced until the 1940s.
  • Scientists Howard Florey and Ernst Chain later developed methods to purify it.

The student wants to emphasize that turning Fleming's observation into a usable medicine required the work of others. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. The mold that Fleming observed produced a substance later named penicillin.
  2. Penicillin, a substance produced by a mold, was mass-produced in the 1940s.
  3. In 1928, Alexander Fleming noticed that bacteria around a mold growing on a dish had died.
  4. Although Fleming noticed in 1928 that a mold killed bacteria, it was Howard Florey and Ernst Chain who developed ways to purify penicillin, which was not mass-produced until the 1940s.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 10 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The novel Rain on Salt Street was published in 1987.
  • It is set in a fishing village during a single week.
  • It is narrated by seven different villagers, one per chapter.
  • Each narrator describes the same storm.
  • Critics praised how the storm looks different through each narrator's eyes.

The student wants to describe the novel's structure to someone who has not read it. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Critics praised Rain on Salt Street, a 1987 novel, for its portrayal of a storm.
  2. Rain on Salt Street takes place over a single week in a fishing village during a storm.
  3. Rain on Salt Street is told in seven chapters, each narrated by a different villager describing the same storm.
  4. Rain on Salt Street, published in 1987, is set in a fishing village.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 11 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Researchers measured noise levels in 40 classrooms.
  • In classrooms with acoustic ceiling panels, average noise was 52 decibels.
  • In classrooms without panels, average noise was 64 decibels.
  • Every 10-decibel increase is perceived as roughly a doubling of loudness.
  • Teachers in quieter rooms reported less voice strain.

The student wants to present the noise difference in a way that conveys how large it would seem to listeners. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Researchers measured noise in 40 classrooms, some with acoustic panels and some without.
  2. Classrooms with acoustic ceiling panels averaged 52 decibels of noise.
  3. Classrooms without acoustic panels averaged 64 decibels, compared with 52 in rooms with panels, a difference that listeners would perceive as more than a doubling of loudness.
  4. Teachers in classrooms with acoustic panels reported less voice strain than teachers in other classrooms.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 12 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The bar-tailed godwit is a shorebird.
  • It breeds in Alaska and spends winters in New Zealand.
  • A tracked godwit flew about 13,500 km without stopping.
  • The flight took about 11 days.
  • Before migrating, godwits shrink their digestive organs and build up fat.

The student wants to explain how the godwit is able to make such a long journey without stopping. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. The bar-tailed godwit breeds in Alaska and spends its winters in New Zealand.
  2. Before migrating, the bar-tailed godwit shrinks its digestive organs and builds up fat, preparing for a nonstop flight that, in one tracked bird, covered about 13,500 km.
  3. One tracked bar-tailed godwit flew about 13,500 km in about 11 days without stopping.
  4. The bar-tailed godwit, a shorebird, makes one of the longest nonstop flights of any bird.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 13 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Composer Lila Adebayo wrote a piece called Tidewater (2016).
  • It is scored for a string quartet and recorded sounds of the sea.
  • The recordings were made at the same beach every hour for one day.
  • The piece is 24 minutes long, one minute for each hour.
  • Adebayo said she wanted listeners to experience a full day compressed.

The student wants to explain the reason behind the length of Tidewater. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Tidewater lasts 24 minutes, one minute for each hour of the day of sea recordings it uses, because Adebayo wanted listeners to experience a full day compressed.
  2. Lila Adebayo's Tidewater, from 2016, is a 24-minute piece for string quartet.
  3. The recordings in Tidewater were made at the same beach every hour for one day.
  4. Tidewater combines a string quartet with recorded sounds of the sea.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 14 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Historian Ruth Calloway studied 18th-century shop signs in London.
  • Many signs used pictures rather than words.
  • A large share of customers could not read.
  • A sign showing three gold balls marked a pawnbroker.
  • A sign showing a striped pole marked a barber.

The student wants to support the claim that shop signs were designed for customers who could not read. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Historian Ruth Calloway studied 18th-century shop signs in London.
  2. Many 18th-century London shop signs, such as those of pawnbrokers and barbers, were studied by Ruth Calloway.
  3. A sign with three gold balls marked a pawnbroker in 18th-century London.
  4. Because a large share of customers could not read, many 18th-century London shop signs used pictures, such as a striped pole for a barber, rather than words.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 15 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • Wind turbines generate electricity from moving air.
  • Offshore turbines are placed in the sea.
  • Winds over the sea are usually stronger and steadier than over land.
  • Offshore turbines are more expensive to build and maintain.
  • A turbine's output rises sharply with wind speed.

The student wants to acknowledge a drawback of offshore turbines while presenting an advantage. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Offshore wind turbines are placed in the sea and generate electricity from moving air.
  2. Although offshore wind turbines are more expensive to build and maintain, they benefit from winds that are usually stronger and steadier than those over land.
  3. Offshore turbines are more expensive to build and maintain than turbines on land.
  4. Winds over the sea are usually stronger and steadier than winds over land.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 16 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The Hokulea is a traditional Polynesian double-hulled canoe.
  • It was built in the 1970s.
  • In 1976 its crew sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti without modern instruments.
  • They navigated using stars, waves, and birds.
  • The voyage showed that ancient Polynesians could have navigated such distances on purpose.

The student wants to emphasize the historical significance of the 1976 voyage. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. The Hokulea is a traditional Polynesian double-hulled canoe built in the 1970s.
  2. By sailing from Hawaii to Tahiti in 1976 using only stars, waves, and birds to navigate, the Hokulea's crew showed that ancient Polynesians could have made such long voyages deliberately.
  3. In 1976, the Hokulea sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti.
  4. The Hokulea's crew navigated using stars, waves, and birds rather than modern instruments.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 17 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • A study tracked 1,200 adults over ten years.
  • Participants who regularly gardened reported higher life satisfaction.
  • Gardeners also spent more time outdoors and more time with neighbors.
  • The study could not determine whether gardening itself caused the difference.
  • The authors called for a controlled trial.

The student wants to present the study's finding while making clear its limitation. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. Adults who gardened regularly reported higher life satisfaction over the ten-year study, though the researchers could not tell whether gardening itself caused the difference.
  2. Gardening causes adults to feel more satisfied with their lives, according to a ten-year study of 1,200 adults.
  3. Gardeners in the study spent more time outdoors and more time with neighbors.
  4. The authors of a ten-year study of 1,200 adults called for a controlled trial.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 18 (hard)

While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:

  • The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book about 240 pages long.
  • Its parchment has been dated to the early 1400s.
  • It is written in an unknown script.
  • It contains drawings of plants that do not match any known species.
  • No one has convincingly decoded it.

The student wants to emphasize what remains unknown about the manuscript. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?

  1. The Voynich manuscript, written on parchment from the early 1400s, is about 240 pages long.
  2. The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book about 240 pages long.
  3. Although its parchment has been dated to the early 1400s, the Voynich manuscript's script remains undeciphered, and its drawings of plants match no known species.
  4. The parchment of the Voynich manuscript has been dated to the early 1400s.

The solution is free with a free account.

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