Question 167·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While preparing a presentation on urban agriculture, a student has gathered the following notes:
- Rooftop farms are built on top of commercial or residential buildings in densely populated cities.
- Community gardens are planted on ground-level plots, often in neighborhood open spaces or vacant lots.
- Both rooftop farms and community gardens supply city residents with fresh produce and greenery.
- Rooftop farms typically use lightweight, engineered soil; community gardens generally use traditional garden soil.
The student wants to highlight a key difference in the physical locations of rooftop farms and community gardens. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions like this, first underline the task words in the question (for example, “key difference,” “physical locations,” “main purpose”). Then scan the notes and mark only the bullets that match that task. Next, quickly test each choice: it must (1) talk about the right feature (here, location), (2) present it in the way the question asks (here, as a difference), and (3) avoid adding unrelated information. Eliminate any option that focuses on similarities, different details from the notes, or vague generalizations, and choose the one that most directly and accurately matches the specific goal.
Hints
Restate what the question is asking for
Underline the words "highlight a key difference in the physical locations" in the question. Any correct answer must emphasize both a difference and location.
Find the location information in the notes
Look back at the bullet points and identify which ones tell you where rooftop farms and community gardens are placed. Ignore notes about benefits or materials for now.
Match notes to answer choices
Compare the answer choices to the location details you found in the notes. Eliminate any choice that talks mainly about similarities, soil, or general advantages instead of where each type is located.
Step-by-step Explanation
Clarify the task in the question
The question says the student wants to highlight a key difference in the physical locations of rooftop farms and community gardens.
So the right answer must:
- Focus on a difference, not a similarity.
- Focus on physical locations (where they are), not soil, benefits, or other details.
Identify the relevant notes
Look back at the notes and find which bullets talk about where each type of agriculture is located:
- Rooftop farms: "built on top of commercial or residential buildings in densely populated cities."
- Community gardens: "planted on ground-level plots, often in neighborhood open spaces or vacant lots."
These two bullets give the key contrast in physical location that the sentence should use.
Check each answer choice against the goal
Now test each option:
- Does it show a difference between rooftop farms and community gardens?
- Is that difference specifically about physical location (on buildings vs. ground level)?
- Does it use information that clearly comes from the notes?
Most choices either focus on what they have in common, talk about soil, or give a general statement about urban agriculture—none of which directly highlight the location difference.
Select the sentence that contrasts locations
Only one option clearly contrasts where each is located by stating that community gardens occupy ground-level neighborhood plots and rooftop farms are on top of city buildings. That option is:
B) Unlike community gardens, which spread across ground-level neighborhood plots, rooftop farms are perched atop city buildings.