Question 97·Medium·Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Ancient Roman roads extended for more than 250,000 miles across the empire.
- Roads were constructed primarily to move troops quickly and to facilitate trade.
- Builders used multiple layers of stone and gravel, resulting in exceptional durability; some roads are still in use today.
- Engineers kept routes as straight as possible, creating bridges and tunnels when necessary.
- The saying "All roads lead to Rome" refers to this vast network.
The student is drafting a sentence to highlight both the enormous scale of Roman roads and their lasting durability. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish these goals?
For rhetorical synthesis questions, underline the exact purpose in the question stem (here, scale and durability). Then tag the notes that match each purpose and choose the option that includes a clear detail for each required goal without drifting into unrelated notes.
Hints
Underline the task
You need a sentence that shows (1) how big the network was and (2) why it lasted.
Find the best scale detail
Which note gives a measurement of the road network’s size?
Find the best durability detail
Look for a choice that mentions roads still being used today and ties that to how the roads were built (layers of stone and gravel).
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the two required goals
The sentence must highlight both (1) the enormous scale of Roman roads and (2) their lasting durability.
Match each goal to the relevant notes
From the notes:
- Scale: “extended for more than 250,000 miles.”
- Durability: “multiple layers of stone and gravel,” and “some roads are still in use today.”
Choose the option that includes both scale and durability
The only choice that includes the 250,000-mile scale and connects roads still in use to the layered stone-and-gravel construction is:
The ancient Roman road network stretched more than 250,000 miles, and some roads are still in use today because builders laid multiple layers of stone and gravel.