Question 208·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- In 1997, NASA's Pathfinder mission deployed the Sojourner rover to Mars.
- Sojourner weighed about 23 pounds and traveled roughly 330 feet during its entire mission.
- In 2021, NASA's Mars 2020 mission delivered the Perseverance rover to Mars.
- Perseverance weighs about 2,260 pounds and is expected to travel several miles during its mission.
- Both rovers served as robotic geologists, analyzing Martian rocks and soil.
The student wants to emphasize how much larger and more mobile Perseverance is compared with Sojourner. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, first restate the task (what the writer wants to emphasize or accomplish) in your own words. Then scan the notes and mark only the details that directly support that goal. Finally, go through the answer choices and eliminate any that (1) ignore one of the key ideas in the task, (2) use irrelevant details like dates or names, or (3) combine details that don’t clearly achieve the stated purpose. The correct choice will usually be the one that uses the most relevant details in a clear, direct comparison or explanation that matches the question’s wording.
Hints
Focus on the goal
Underline the phrase in the question that states the goal: “emphasize how much larger and more mobile Perseverance is compared with Sojourner.” Any good answer must address both of these ideas.
Pick the relevant notes first
Look back at the bullet notes and decide: which bullets talk about size and which talk about movement? Ignore notes that are only about dates or mission names.
Match notes to answer choices
Now check each answer choice: Which one actually uses the details about size and distance traveled for the two rovers, rather than talking about roles or dates?
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate the task in your own words
The student wants to emphasize how much larger and more mobile Perseverance is compared with Sojourner. So the right sentence must:
- Mention both rovers, and
- Clearly show that Perseverance is bigger and moves farther than Sojourner.
Identify the relevant notes
From the notes, the information that helps with “larger” and “more mobile” is:
- Sojourner weighed about 23 pounds.
- Perseverance weighs about 2,260 pounds.
- Sojourner traveled roughly 330 feet during its entire mission.
- Perseverance is expected to travel several miles during its mission. These are the details that show size (weights) and mobility (distance traveled).
Eliminate options that don’t match the goal
Go through each choice and ask: Does it compare size and mobility of the two rovers?
- Choice A talks about their function (robotic geologists), not size or mobility.
- Choice B talks about launch years, not size or mobility.
- Choice C mixes Sojourner’s weight with Perseverance’s landing year, so it doesn’t really compare larger and more mobile either. Only one remaining option actually uses the weight and travel distance information to make the comparison.
Confirm the best match
The remaining choice that uses both weight (2,260 pounds) and mobility (several miles vs. 330 feet) to show Perseverance is much larger and more mobile than Sojourner is:
Unlike Sojourner, which journeyed only about 330 feet, the 2,260-pound Perseverance rover is designed to travel several miles across Mars.