Question 62·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While preparing a report on urban rail transit, a student has compiled the following notes:
- Trains equipped with rubber tires generate substantially less noise than those with traditional steel wheels.
- Rubber tires, however, wear out more quickly and must be replaced far more often than steel wheels.
- Steel wheels, because of their lower rolling resistance, use energy more efficiently than rubber tires.
- Rubber tires are manufactured from petrochemical materials that are difficult to recycle.
- Steel wheels can remain in service for decades with minimal maintenance.
The student wants to highlight a trade-off between reducing noise and increasing maintenance demands. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to achieve this purpose?
For rhetorical synthesis questions with notes, first restate the task in your own words (for example, “show a trade-off between X and Y”). Then, scan the notes and mark which bullets correspond to each required idea (X and Y). Next, check each answer choice: eliminate any that does not include both required ideas or that adds unrelated details. Finally, among the remaining choices, pick the one that clearly shows the intended relationship (such as contrast, cause-and-effect, or support) using concise, accurate information from the notes.
Hints
Identify the two key ideas you must connect
Underline the words in the question that describe what needs to be contrasted. What are the two things that must both appear in the sentence (one is about sound, the other about upkeep)?
Locate the matching notes
Look back at the bullet points: which one talks about how noisy or quiet the trains are, and which ones talk about how often parts need replacing or how much maintenance they need?
Look for a sentence that combines and contrasts
From the answer choices, cross out any that mention only one idea from the notes. Among the remaining choices, which one clearly shows a contrast—a benefit on one side and a drawback on the other?
Step-by-step Explanation
Clarify the task in the question
The question says the student wants to highlight a trade-off between reducing noise and increasing maintenance demands.
So the correct sentence must:
- Mention noise (how loud or quiet the trains are), and
- Mention maintenance demands (how often parts need replacement or how much upkeep is needed), and
- Clearly show a trade-off, usually with a contrast word like "but" or "however."
Find the relevant notes about noise and maintenance
Look back at the bullet points:
- The first bullet talks about noise: rubber tires make trains generate less noise than steel wheels.
- The second bullet talks about maintenance for rubber tires: they wear out more quickly and must be replaced more often.
- The fifth bullet talks about maintenance for steel wheels: they can stay in service for decades with minimal maintenance.
For this question, we need a sentence that connects noise reduction (from the first bullet) with increased maintenance demands (especially from the second bullet).
Check each answer for both required ideas and a trade-off
Now test each option against the task:
- Does it mention noise (quieter vs. louder)?
- Does it mention maintenance demands (replacement frequency, upkeep, wear, or maintenance effort)?
- Does it show a contrast/trade-off, such as using "but" or implying a downside that comes with the benefit?
Eliminate any choice that is missing either the noise idea, the maintenance idea, or the sense of trade-off.
Match the best option to the notes and purpose
Apply the checklist:
- Choice B focuses only on long service life and low upkeep (maintenance), with no mention of noise.
- Choice C only talks about recycling challenges (materials and environment), with no mention of noise or maintenance demands.
- Choice D only discusses energy efficiency because of rolling resistance, with no mention of noise or maintenance.
- Only Choice A clearly combines the idea that rubber-tired trains are quieter (noise reduction) with the idea that their tires need to be replaced more often (greater maintenance demand), and it uses the contrast word "but" to show a trade-off.
Therefore, the correct answer is: A) Rubber-tired trains are quieter than steel-wheeled trains, but the tires need to be replaced much more frequently.