Question 26·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- In 2021, University of Arizona researchers measured midday surface temperatures in several Phoenix neighborhoods that differed in tree canopy coverage.
- Streets shaded by trees over at least 25% of their area averaged 3 °C cooler than streets with less than 10% canopy.
- On the hottest days, the temperature gap widened to about 5 °C.
- The study concluded that expanding urban tree cover can lessen the city’s heat-island effect.
The student wants to refer to the study’s key finding in a research report. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For questions that ask you to use research notes to state a study’s key finding, first decide exactly what type of information is requested: main result, method, purpose, or conclusion. Then scan the notes for the single bullet that best captures that focus—often the one with the central statistic or clearest comparison. Finally, choose the answer that accurately and specifically reflects that bullet (including key numbers and conditions), and avoid options that are vague, focus on side details, only describe methods, or add interpretations that go beyond the notes.
Hints
Identify what counts as a key finding
Look back at the bullet points: which one tells you the main result the researchers discovered, rather than just what they did or what they concluded in general?
Focus on the numerical comparison
Which bullet includes a specific temperature difference between more-shaded and less-shaded streets? That kind of quantitative comparison is often the key finding in a scientific study.
Check each choice against the key bullet
After you decide which bullet is the key finding, eliminate any answer choice that does not clearly convey that specific result or that only talks about methods or very general ideas without the main number.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand what the question is asking for
The question says the student wants to refer to the study’s key finding in a research report.
A key finding is the main result the researchers discovered, not just what they did (methods) or a broad conclusion without data.
Locate the key finding in the notes
Go through the notes and decide which bullet best represents the central result:
- Bullet 1: describes what the researchers measured (methods).
- Bullet 2: gives a specific comparison: streets with over 25% tree cover were 3 °C cooler than streets with less than 10% canopy.
- Bullet 3: adds an extra detail about the hottest days (temperature gap about 5 °C).
- Bullet 4: states a general conclusion about expanding urban tree cover.
The clearest key finding is the specific, general midday result in bullet 2: the 3 °C difference linked to tree coverage levels.
Match answer choices to the key finding
Now compare each choice to the notes and ask:
- Does it clearly report the main numerical result (3 °C difference) connected to tree canopy coverage?
- Does it stay close to what the notes say, without being too vague or adding unsupported claims?
Eliminate any choice that:
- Only talks about what researchers did.
- Is very general with no numbers.
- Focuses mainly on a side detail (like the hottest days) instead of the main result.
Select the choice that accurately states the main result
The choice that best summarizes the main quantitative finding is the one stating that streets shaded by trees over at least 25% of their area averaged about 3 °C cooler at midday than streets with less than 10% canopy.
That sentence is given in choice D, so D is the correct answer.