Question 14·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect.
- He designed the Bosco Verticale residential towers in Milan.
- The twin towers were completed in 2014.
- More than 20,000 trees and shrubs grow on the towers’ terraces.
- This vegetation helps mitigate air pollution and reduce the urban heat island effect.
The student wants to highlight the environmental benefits of Bosco Verticale for an audience already familiar with the concept of vertical forests. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first underline the goal in the question (for example, highlight environmental benefits, persuade, summarize, etc.) and note any details about the audience. Then, from the bullet-point notes, quickly mark which items directly serve that goal (here, the points about air pollution and the urban heat island effect) and which are just background. Finally, scan the answer choices and eliminate any that (1) leave out key goal-related notes, (2) add unnecessary explanation the audience already knows, or (3) shift focus to biography or definitions instead of the requested emphasis; the correct choice will use the most relevant notes and match the stated purpose and audience most directly.
Hints
Focus on the goal words in the question
Underline the phrase "highlight the environmental benefits of Bosco Verticale" in the question. Which pieces of information in the notes actually describe environmental effects, not just design or background?
Use the notes selectively
Look back at the bullet points and identify which ones say what the vegetation does for the environment (for example, effects on air quality or temperature). Those are the notes your answer should be based on.
Consider the audience’s prior knowledge
The audience is already familiar with vertical forests. Eliminate choices that spend time defining or explaining what a vertical forest is, instead of focusing on the environmental impact of this specific project.
Check for multiple environmental effects
From the notes, there are two main environmental benefits. Which choice mentions both types of environmental impact, rather than just one or none?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the task and audience
The question asks for a sentence that highlights the environmental benefits of Bosco Verticale for an audience already familiar with the concept of vertical forests.
So the best answer should:
- Emphasize environmental effects (what good it does for the environment), and
- Not waste space explaining what a vertical forest is, since the audience already knows that.
Pick out the relevant notes
From the notes, separate background facts from environmental benefits:
- Background facts:
- Stefano Boeri is an Italian architect.
- He designed the Bosco Verticale residential towers in Milan.
- The twin towers were completed in 2014.
- More than 20,000 trees and shrubs grow on the towers’ terraces.
- Environmental benefits:
- This vegetation helps mitigate air pollution.
- This vegetation helps reduce the urban heat island effect (cool the surrounding city air).
To meet the goal, the best answer should clearly include the effects on air pollution and temperature, and possibly the large amount of vegetation to show impact.
Evaluate how well each option matches the goal
Now check each answer choice against the goal and the key environmental notes:
- Choice A talks about the meaning of the name, the architect, and when/where it was built, but nothing about environmental benefits.
- Choice B starts with "To mitigate air pollution" but then mostly gives design/location details and explains that Bosco Verticale is a type of vertical forest. It mentions only one environmental point (air pollution), not the heat/temperature effect, and spends words explaining what a vertical forest is (unnecessary for this audience).
- Choice C gives a general definition of vertical forests and says they incorporate vegetation, but it does not state what environmental benefits that vegetation provides.
- One choice specifically states that the towers have over 20,000 trees and shrubs whose canopy helps mitigate air pollution and cool the surrounding city air—this directly uses both environmental notes and the scale of vegetation, and it doesn’t waste words defining vertical forests.
Choose the sentence that best highlights environmental benefits
The only option that clearly emphasizes the environmental benefits—mitigating air pollution and cooling the surrounding city air—while using relevant facts from the notes is:
D) Completed in 2014 in Milan, Stefano Boeri’s twin Bosco Verticale towers host more than 20,000 trees and shrubs whose canopy helps mitigate air pollution and cool the surrounding city air.