SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis
A student has researched fast radio bursts and compiled the following notes: - Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration flashes of radio…
A student has researched fast radio bursts and compiled the following notes:
- Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration flashes of radio energy.
- Many originate at distances of billions of light-years.
- Some sources repeat their bursts; others have been observed only once.
- In 2020, a magnetar (a highly magnetized neutron star) within our own galaxy produced a burst with properties similar to a fast radio burst.
- As the radio waves travel through space, intergalactic plasma delays lower frequencies more than higher ones, a measurable effect.
- That delay effect allows scientists to estimate the amount of matter the radio waves passed through on their way to Earth.
The student wants to emphasize how fast radio bursts can be used as a scientific tool, instead of focusing on what causes them. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
- Fast radio bursts are millisecond-duration flashes of radio energy.
- Many originate at distances of billions of light-years.
- Some sources repeat their bursts; others have been observed only once.
- In 2020, a magnetar (a highly magnetized neutron star) within our own galaxy produced a burst with properties similar to a fast radio burst.
- As the radio waves travel through space, intergalactic plasma delays lower frequencies more than higher ones, a measurable effect.
- That delay effect allows scientists to estimate the amount of matter the radio waves passed through on their way to Earth.
The student wants to emphasize how fast radio bursts can be used as a scientific tool, instead of focusing on what causes them. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Answer and explanation
Answer: C: Because intergalactic plasma delays lower radio frequencies more than higher ones as a burst travels billions of light-years to Earth, scientists can use that measurable delay to estimate the amount…
The goal calls for *use as a tool*, not description or explanation of origin. C is the only choice that describes fast radio bursts doing something useful for scientists, functioning as a probe of intergalactic matter, instead of describing what they are or where they might come from. A and D both describe basic properties without connecting to any scientific application. B addresses origin directly, which is exactly what the goal asks the student to move away from.
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