Question 192·Hard·Rhetorical Synthesis
While drafting a health-science article, a writer has compiled the following notes about a recent study:
- A 2022 meta-analysis tracked 680,000 adult smartphone users for six months.
- Researchers recorded each participant’s daily screen time after 7 p.m.
- For every additional hour of screen use after 7 p.m., average nightly sleep decreased by 5 minutes.
- Thirty percent of participants enabled the phone’s blue-light filter during evening use.
- Among blue-light-filter users, sleep decreased by only 2 minutes per extra hour of screen time.
- The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends 7–9 hours of sleep per night for adults.
The writer wants to highlight the potential benefit of using a phone’s blue-light filter during the evening. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, restate the exact goal from the stem and then choose the notes that most directly serve it. To highlight a benefit of the blue-light filter, use the notes that compare outcomes with and without the filter (2 minutes vs 5 minutes per extra hour) and avoid choices that rely on background details alone or that draw conclusions beyond what the notes support.
Hints
Restate the purpose
You need a sentence that makes the blue-light filter look helpful, using only what the notes say.
Look for the key comparison
The notes give two different per-hour sleep decreases: 5 minutes (overall) versus 2 minutes (filter users). The best choice will typically include both numbers.
Watch for subtle overreach
Be careful with choices that use the 7–9 hour recommendation to claim the filter keeps people within that range—those conclusions aren’t directly supported by the study results.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the goal
The writer’s goal is to highlight the potential benefit of using a phone’s blue-light filter during evening use.
Find the most relevant notes
The most relevant information is the comparison of sleep loss per additional hour of screen time after 7 p.m.:
- Overall: sleep decreases by 5 minutes per extra hour.
- Blue-light-filter users: sleep decreases by 2 minutes per extra hour.
Check each choice against the goal
Prefer the choice that uses the comparison to show the filter is associated with less sleep loss per hour. Eliminate choices that:
- Mention only one group’s result without the comparison.
- Bring in the 7–9 hour recommendation to claim people will “stay within that range” (not established by the notes).
- Emphasize general study background or overall effects without highlighting the filter’s benefit.
Select the most effective synthesis
The correct choice is: "In the meta-analysis, adults who used a blue-light filter after 7 p.m. lost about 2 minutes of sleep per extra hour of screen time, compared with about 5 minutes per hour for others."