Question 37·Easy·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- On May 10, 1869, the US transcontinental railroad was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah.
- It connected the existing eastern US rail network with the Pacific coast.
- Before the railroad, crossing the continent by wagon or ship could take months.
- After completion, a coast-to-coast trip by rail took about a week.
The student wants to emphasize the impact of the railroad on cross-country travel time. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
For rhetorical synthesis questions where a student has notes and a specific writing goal, first underline the goal phrase in the question (for example, "emphasize the impact on cross-country travel time"). Then scan the notes and quickly group them by type (time, place, people, causes, etc.). Eliminate any answer choices built from notes that do not match the requested type of information, even if they are factually correct. Finally, among the remaining options, choose the one that most directly and strongly addresses the goal—often the one that includes a clear before-and-after contrast or other explicit emphasis rather than a weaker or partial reference.
Hints
Focus on the goal in the question
Underline the phrase "emphasize the impact of the railroad on cross-country travel time." Which key idea must the correct answer highlight?
Sort the notes by type of information
Ask yourself: which notes are about when/where the railroad was built, which are about what it connected, and which are about how long travel took before and after?
Look for a before-and-after contrast
To show an impact, it helps to show a change. Which choice uses information that shows how travel time was different before the railroad and after it?
Step-by-step Explanation
Restate the task in your own words
The question says the student wants to emphasize the impact of the railroad on cross-country travel time. So you need the choice that best shows how the railroad changed how long trips took across the country.
Identify which notes are about travel time
Look at the notes and separate time-related details from other facts.
- Time-related notes:
- "Before the railroad, crossing the continent by wagon or ship could take months."
- "After completion, a coast-to-coast trip by rail took about a week."
- Non-time notes:
- The completion date and place.
- What regions it connected.
To show impact on travel time, the best sentence should use the before-and-after travel time information.
Check which options actually mention travel time
Now scan each choice and ask: does it talk about how long travel took, especially before and after the railroad?
- Choice A talks about what regions the railroad connected (east to Pacific coast), but not how long travel took.
- Choice B talks about when and where it was completed, but not travel time.
- Choice C mentions that people used wagons or ships before, but it does not clearly state the change in time.
- One choice mentions both the railroad’s completion and that it reduced coast-to-coast travel from months to about a week.
Only that last kind of sentence really highlights the impact on travel time by contrasting the long time before with the short time after.
Choose the sentence that best emphasizes the time change
Because the goal is to show the effect on cross-country travel time, the best answer is the one that combines the completion information with the specific change in travel duration: it states that completed in 1869, the transcontinental railroad cut coast-to-coast travel from months to about a week, which directly emphasizes the impact on travel time.
So the correct answer is: Completed in 1869, the transcontinental railroad cut coast-to-coast travel from months to about a week.