Question 163·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- The Bosco Verticale in Milan consists of two residential towers.
- Each tower hosts more than 900 trees and thousands of shrubs on its balconies.
- The vegetation absorbs about 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
- Architect Stefano Boeri designed the towers to serve as a model for urban reforestation.
- The project demonstrates how high-rise buildings can incorporate full-scale forests.
The student wants to emphasize that the Bosco Verticale is more than just an ordinary apartment building. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, start by underlining the specific goal in the question (for example, to emphasize how something is unique, important, or different). Then scan the notes to identify the details that directly support that goal. Next, evaluate each answer choice by asking: (1) Does it clearly achieve the stated purpose? (2) Does it use the most relevant information from the notes—without adding outside facts or unsupported opinions? Quickly eliminate choices that only give basic background, repeat irrelevant details, or sound reasonable but do not actually meet the goal. Choose the option that is both purpose-focused and well supported by the notes.
Hints
Clarify the goal
Underline the phrase in the question that states the writer’s goal; what exactly does the student want to emphasize about the Bosco Verticale?
Find unique features in the notes
Look back at the notes and list what makes the Bosco Verticale special compared with a typical apartment building. Focus especially on anything related to nature or forests.
Match content and purpose
Ask yourself: Which answer choice not only uses those unique features from the notes, but also clearly suggests that the building is different from an ordinary apartment building?
Watch out for weak or irrelevant details
Be careful with options that only mention basic facts (like who designed it or where it is) or that add opinions not supported by the notes. The best answer should be specific and clearly tied to the stated goal.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the writing goal
The question states that the student wants to emphasize that the Bosco Verticale is more than just an ordinary apartment building.
So, the best sentence must:
- Clearly show how the building is different from or better than a normal apartment building, and
- Use relevant details from the notes to prove that point.
Review what the notes highlight about Bosco Verticale
Look at what makes the building special in the notes:
- It has two residential towers.
- Each tower has more than 900 trees and thousands of shrubs on its balconies.
- The vegetation absorbs about 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year.
- It was designed as a model for urban reforestation.
- It demonstrates how high-rise buildings can incorporate full-scale forests.
Details about trees, shrubs, carbon dioxide absorption, and forests are what show it is not just a normal apartment building.
Eliminate choices that do not meet the goal
Check each option against the goal and the notes:
- A talks only about who designed the towers. That is a basic fact but does not show how the building is more than ordinary.
- C gives location and year (and even includes a year not in the notes). Those facts do not explain what makes it unusual.
- D mentions urban reforestation and "many plants," but it is vague and adds an opinionated phrase ("is important, so") not supported by the notes. It does not clearly contrast the building with ordinary apartments.
Only one choice uses specific details about the vegetation and clearly shows how the building functions differently from a typical apartment building.
Confirm the choice that best emphasizes the unique purpose
The remaining option describes that the Bosco Verticale is planted with over 900 trees and thousands of shrubs that absorb roughly 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and explicitly states that it shows how skyscrapers can act as vertical forests rather than ordinary apartments.
This sentence uses multiple relevant facts from the notes and directly contrasts the building with ordinary apartments, so the correct answer is:
B) Planted with over 900 trees and thousands of shrubs that absorb roughly 30 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, the Bosco Verticale shows how skyscrapers can function as vertical forests rather than ordinary apartments.