Question 18·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Grace Hopper (1906–1992) was a United States Navy rear admiral and pioneering computer scientist.
- Worked on the Harvard Mark I computer during World War II.
- Led development of the first computer compiler (1952) and later helped create the business-oriented language COBOL (1959).
- Believed that computers should use English-like programming languages so that people without advanced mathematics could code.
- Coined the term "debugging" after removing a moth from a computer relay.
- Posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016.
The student wants to introduce a paragraph that will explain how Hopper helped make computer programming more accessible to non-experts. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For SAT rhetorical synthesis questions using notes, start by underlining the task words in the question (for example, “explain how Hopper helped make programming more accessible to non-experts”). Then scan the notes for the few bullets that directly match that purpose, ignoring interesting but off-topic details like awards or anecdotes. Next, choose the option that uses those specific notes and clearly supports the paragraph’s stated goal, and eliminate any choices that are true but focus on side facts (dates, honors, or popularity) instead of the exact idea the question asks you to set up.
Hints
Restate the goal in your own words
The new sentence should set up a paragraph about how Hopper’s work helped ordinary people (non-experts) be able to program computers. Keep that exact focus in mind as you read the choices.
Look back at the notes for ‘non-experts’
Which notes talk about people without advanced mathematics and about using English-like programming languages? Those are your main clues about making programming accessible.
Connect beliefs to actions
Find the option that not only mentions Hopper’s ideas about how computers should work, but also connects those ideas to specific tools or accomplishments that would help more people be able to code.
Step-by-step Explanation
Clarify the task and purpose
The question asks for a sentence to introduce a paragraph that will explain how Grace Hopper helped make computer programming more accessible to non-experts.
So the correct choice must:
- Focus on Hopper’s actions (what she did), and
- Connect those actions to making programming easier for people without advanced knowledge.
Find the most relevant notes
Look back at the notes for anything about making programming easier for non-experts:
- “Believed that computers should use English-like programming languages so that people without advanced mathematics could code.” → This is directly about non-experts.
- “Led development of the first computer compiler (1952) and later helped create the business-oriented language COBOL (1959).” → These are specific tools she created.
An effective introduction will connect her belief about English-like languages to the compiler and COBOL, showing how she helped open programming to more people.
Match each choice to the goal
Now compare each option to the goal of explaining how she made programming more accessible:
- Choice A focuses on a famous “debugging” story. It’s interesting but about fixing a bug, not about making programming accessible.
- Choice B is about an award she received long after her death. It shows recognition, but not how she helped non-experts program.
- Choice C describes how COBOL spread and became widely used in the 1950s. That shows popularity, but it doesn’t explain Hopper’s belief or how she personally helped non-experts.
- Choice D is the only one that ties her insistence on plain English directly to her creation of the compiler and COBOL, which are the key tools from the notes that made programming easier.
Select the sentence that best fits the purpose
Because it clearly connects Hopper’s belief that computers should understand plain English with her development of the first compiler and COBOL—tools that allowed people without advanced math to program—the best introductory sentence is:
“Decades before personal computers appeared in living rooms, computer scientist Grace Hopper insisted that machines should understand plain English, a conviction that drove her creation of the first compiler and, later, the COBOL programming language.”