Question 201·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Solar panels convert sunlight into electricity with average efficiency of about 20 percent.
- Wind turbines capture kinetic energy in moving air; a single modern onshore turbine can power roughly 1,500 homes.
- Geothermal power plants tap heat from Earth’s crust to produce reliable baseload electricity.
- Hydroelectric dams generate electricity from moving water and are currently the world’s largest source of renewable electricity.
The student wants to add a sentence to introduce a report on renewable energy technologies by briefly describing how they generate power. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions with notes, first read the question stem carefully to identify the exact task (introduce, conclude, summarize, explain how, etc.). Then skim the notes to find the central idea or pattern that connects them. Next, quickly eliminate answer choices that are too narrow (focus on only one or two notes), too detailed (statistics or minor facts), or off-purpose (do something other than what the question asks). Choose the option that best fits the stated goal and synthesizes the key information from all relevant notes into a clear, concise sentence.
Hints
Focus on the stated goal
Underline the phrase in the question that describes the goal: the sentence must introduce a report and briefly describe how renewable technologies generate power. Eliminate any option that doesn’t do both.
Look for a broad, not narrow, statement
Since this is an introduction to a report on multiple technologies, the sentence should give a general overview that applies to all four notes, not just one or two of them or a specific statistic.
Use the common idea in the notes
Ask yourself: What common pattern do solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric technologies share in the notes? Then look for the answer choice that expresses that shared pattern in one sentence.
Watch out for details that are too specific
If an answer focuses on exact numbers, efficiency percentages, or only one technology, it’s probably better suited for a body paragraph, not for an introductory sentence.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the task in the question
The prompt says the student wants “a sentence to introduce a report on renewable energy technologies by briefly describing how they generate power.”
So the correct answer must:
- Work as an introduction (broad, general, covers the whole topic), and
- Briefly describe how renewable technologies generate electricity, not just name them or give specific statistics.
Summarize what the notes emphasize
Look at what the notes say about each technology:
- Solar panels: convert sunlight into electricity.
- Wind turbines: capture kinetic energy in moving air to power homes.
- Geothermal plants: tap heat from Earth’s crust to produce electricity.
- Hydroelectric dams: use moving water to generate electricity.
Overall idea: each technology converts a different natural force (sun, wind, underground heat, water) into electricity. The introduction sentence should capture this shared idea.
Check which choices match the purpose and use the notes well
Now compare each option to the goal and the notes:
- Choice A lists the four technologies but does not explain how they generate power. It misses the key idea of converting natural forces into electricity.
- Choice C focuses on specific numbers for solar panels and a wind turbine. That is too detailed and only talks about two technologies, not all four.
- Choice D talks only about hydroelectric dams and their importance. It neither introduces all technologies nor briefly explains how they generate power.
Only one option both summarizes all four technologies together and explains in a general way how they produce electricity.
Select the sentence that broadly describes how all the technologies generate power
The only choice that captures the shared idea—using sunlight, wind, underground heat, and moving water to create electricity—is:
From sunlight and wind to underground heat and rushing water, renewable technologies convert natural forces into usable electricity.
This sentence works as a clear introduction and briefly explains how these technologies generate power, using relevant information from all four notes.