Rhetorical Synthesis sample question 1

Much of the Great Wall that stands today was built during the Ming dynasty.

Rhetorical Synthesis sample question 2

A night mayor is an official some cities appoint to balance residents' need for sleep against the cultural and economic value of evening venues.

Rhetorical Synthesis sample question 3

As permafrost thaws, it releases methane — a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than CO₂ — triggering a feedback loop in which warming accelerates further warming, potentially releasing hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon.

Rhetorical Synthesis sample question 4

The endowment effect is the tendency to value something more highly once you own it: in one experiment, people given a mug asked an average of $7 to sell it, while people without one offered an average of $3 to buy it.

Rhetorical Synthesis sample question 5

Gentrification, the arrival of wealthier residents in a poorer neighborhood, raises rents and property values, pushing out some renters while letting homeowners profit.

SAT · Reading and Writing · Expression of Ideas

Rhetorical Synthesis

Rhetorical Synthesis is part of Expression of Ideas in the SAT Reading and Writing section. The questions below are written in the style of the real test, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Question types you will see here include emphasize a specific feature, compare two things, explain to an unfamiliar audience and introduce a person or work.

Common traps: sentence that includes the fact but not as the emphasis; sentence that emphasizes a different note; sentence adding facts not in the notes.

Sample questions

Question 1
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: • The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications. • Its construction took place over many centuries. • Much of the existing wall was built during the Ming dynasty. • The walls were built to protect against invasions from the north.
The student wants to emphasize when the event or achievement took place. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- A.
  Much of the Great Wall that stands today was built during the Ming dynasty.
- B.
  The Great Wall stretches across northern China.
- C.
  The Great Wall's fortifications were built to protect against invasions from the north.
- D.
  The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications built over many centuries.
Answer: A. Much of the Great Wall that stands today was built during the Ming dynasty.
The goal is to emphasize when the event or achievement took place. The correct choice does exactly that: "Much of the Great Wall that stands today was built during the Ming dynasty." The other choices focus on different details and do not accomplish the stated goal.
Question 2
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: • Some cities have appointed a "night mayor." • A night mayor is an official responsible for the city's nightlife. • Residents want quiet so that they can sleep. • Evening venues such as clubs and theaters bring cultural and economic value. • Night mayors try to balance these competing needs. • The first appointments came in the early 2010s.
The student wants to summarize the topic in one concise sentence. The sentence must (1) say what a night mayor is and (2) say what the official balances, without adding any judgment of its own.
Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- A.
  A night mayor is an official some cities appoint to balance residents' need for sleep against the cultural and economic value of evening venues.
- B.
  Night mayors, whose first appointments came in the early 2010s, are responsible for a city's nightlife.
- C.
  Residents want quiet to sleep, but clubs and theaters bring cultural and economic value.
- D.
  Night mayors are clearly the best solution to the conflicts between residents and nightlife in any city that has tried one.
Answer: A. A night mayor is an official some cities appoint to balance residents' need for sleep against the cultural and economic value of evening venues.
(A) says what the role is and what it balances. (B) says what the role is but not what is balanced. (C) lists the competing needs without naming the official. (D) adds a judgment that the notes do not support.
Question 3
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: • Permafrost is ground that has been frozen for at least two consecutive years; it underlies roughly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere's land surface. • As temperatures rise, permafrost thaws and releases carbon dioxide and methane stored in ancient plant matter. • Methane is a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than CO₂ over a twenty-year period. • Models estimate that permafrost could release between 130 and 160 billion tonnes of carbon by 2100 under high-emissions scenarios. • This release is sometimes called a climate feedback loop: warming causes thaw, which releases gases, which cause more warming.
The student wants to write a sentence persuading a general audience that permafrost thaw is an urgent climate concern. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- A.
  Permafrost underlies roughly a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere's land surface and has been frozen for at least two consecutive years by definition.
- B.
  Scientists estimate that permafrost will release between 130 and 160 billion tonnes of carbon by 2100, making it an important topic for climate research.
- C.
  As permafrost thaws, it releases methane — a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than CO₂ — triggering a feedback loop in which warming accelerates further warming, potentially releasing hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon.
- D.
  Permafrost contains ancient plant matter that, once released, decomposes into carbon dioxide and methane through microbial processes.
Answer: C. As permafrost thaws, it releases methane — a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than CO₂ — triggering a feedback loop in which warming accelerates further warming, potentially releasing hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon.
Persuading a general audience requires urgency. (C) combines the most alarming facts — methane's potency (80 times more than CO₂), the feedback loop mechanism, and the scale (hundreds of billions of tonnes) — in a way that conveys why the issue is urgent. (A) merely defines permafrost and its extent without addressing danger. (B) cites the carbon estimate but frames it only as a research topic, which lacks persuasive force. (D) describes the chemical process but omits the potency, scale, and feedback loop that make the situation urgent.
Question 4
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: • The endowment effect is people's tendency to value something more once they own it. • In an experiment, some participants were given a mug and others were not. • Mug owners asked an average of $7 to sell the mug. • Participants without mugs offered an average of $3 to buy one. • Researchers concluded that owning an item raises its value in the owner's mind.
The student wants to explain the endowment effect to readers who have never heard of it, by defining it in plain language and giving the prices from the mug experiment. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- A.
  In one experiment, people given a mug asked an average of $7 to sell it, while people without one offered an average of $3 to buy it.
- B.
  Researchers concluded that owning an item raises its value in the owner's mind.
- C.
  The endowment effect, which researchers have studied using mugs, is a bias in how people value the things they already have.
- D.
  The endowment effect is the tendency to value something more highly once you own it: in one experiment, people given a mug asked an average of $7 to sell it, while people without one offered an average of $3 to buy it.
Answer: D. The endowment effect is the tendency to value something more highly once you own it: in one experiment, people given a mug asked an average of $7 to sell it, while people without one offered an average of $3 to buy it.
The goal needs a plain definition plus the experiment's prices; D gives both. A gives the prices without defining or naming the effect, B gives a conclusion with neither the term nor the prices, and C names and loosely describes the effect but leaves out the prices.
Question 5
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: • Gentrification is the arrival of wealthier residents in a lower-income neighborhood. • New cafes and renovated housing often follow, raising the area's appeal. • Rents and property taxes rise as demand grows. • Some long-time renters cannot afford to stay and move away. • Long-time residents who own their homes can profit from rising values.
The student wants to summarize what gentrification is and its mixed effects on long-time residents. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- A.
  Gentrification begins when wealthier residents arrive; cafes and renovated housing follow, rents and property taxes rise as demand grows, and some residents are forced to leave.
- B.
  Gentrification, the arrival of wealthier residents in a poorer neighborhood, raises rents and property values, pushing out some renters while letting homeowners profit.
- C.
  Long-time residents who own their homes can profit from rising values when new cafes and renovated housing raise an area's appeal and demand.
- D.
  Gentrification is unfair to long-time residents, since wealthier newcomers gain from a neighborhood while renters are forced to leave, as the notes make clear.
Answer: B. Gentrification, the arrival of wealthier residents in a poorer neighborhood, raises rents and property values, pushing out some renters while letting homeowners profit.
The goal asks for a definition and mixed effects. B gives both the harm to renters and the gain to owners. A omits the benefit to homeowners, C gives only the benefit and no definition, and D adds a judgment of unfairness that the notes do not state.

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