Synthesizing Notes
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SAT Reading & Writing › Synthesizing Notes
The student wants to prioritize the ethical case for repatriation based on provenance irregularities. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Edo community representatives proposed a collaborative long-term loan if restitution proceeds, indicating opportunities for partnership regardless of the museum's ultimate decision and future cultural exchanges.
The bronze draws significant audiences; a 2018 exhibition attracted 60,000 visitors and boosted memberships, suggesting retention can support the museum's outreach and financial stability locally.
Legal counsel reports no domestic law compels return, meaning any repatriation would be voluntary rather than mandated by statute under current regulations and case law.
Provenance records show an 1897 punitive expedition acquisition and a 1933 file questioning the sale's legitimacy, substantiating ethical grounds for repatriation based on coercive context and contested ownership.
Explanation
Choice C grounds the ethical case in provenance: a punitive expedition acquisition and a file questioning legitimacy. A, B, and D emphasize attendance, legal constraints, or partnerships, which do not establish ethical justification.
The student wants to emphasize why shielding city lights during peak migration is critical. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Volunteers annually document affected species, and high-rise glass reflects lit interiors, information useful for targeting mitigation but not the central reason to shield lights on peak migration nights.
Because urban skyglow disorients flocks, and just 10 to 15 nights see peak migrations, dimming lights on those nights can cut deadly building collisions by 59%.
Most downtown buildings already have programmable LEDs, making scheduling easy, and volunteers coordinate campaigns, focusing on implementation logistics more than why peak-night shielding is essential.
Peak migration spans most nights each season, so year-round dimming is necessary to prevent nearly all collisions, which drop by about 90% when lights are always off.
Explanation
B links disorientation, limited peak nights, and large collision reductions to show why shielding at those times is critical. A and C focus on logistics or context, and D asserts unsupported, inaccurate claims.
The student wants to emphasize the mechanisms that make citizen-science wildlife data reliable. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Reliability is strengthened by required online training and quizzes, geotagged photo submissions that enable identification verification, and expert reviewers plus machine-learning filters that flag anomalies and reduce false positives.
When filtered, citizen-science bird records match professional surveys on abundance trends across regions, expanding spatial coverage at relatively low cost for conservation planning and research.
Data gaps persist in remote areas lacking cellular coverage and high smartphone adoption, limiting representation of species and habitats in certain regions at present time.
Participation increases public engagement with local ecosystems and conservation initiatives, building community ownership of monitoring projects over time and raising environmental awareness among participants too.
Explanation
Choice C highlights training, verification, and expert/algorithmic checks—the mechanisms ensuring reliability. The other choices address engagement, overall outcomes, or coverage limitations rather than the reliability mechanisms themselves.
The student wants to emphasize how open access improves equity for researchers at resource-limited institutions. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Open-access articles are available immediately upon publication and often see higher citation rates in certain disciplines, boosting visibility and dissemination for new studies quickly worldwide.
Because costly journal subscriptions leave smaller institutions without comprehensive access, open-access articles are free to read worldwide, and APC waivers or discounts support authors from low-income countries.
Hybrid journals mix subscription and open-access content, enabling authors to choose models that satisfy funder mandates and disciplinary expectations while retaining traditional publishing structures too.
Predatory publishers exploit APCs without rigorous peer review, so institutions encourage vigilance and provide guidance to help authors avoid deceptive outlets during journal selection processes.
Explanation
Choice A ties subscription barriers, free availability, and APC waivers to equity. The other choices discuss publishing models, predatory risks, or visibility without directly addressing equitable access for resource-limited researchers.
The student wants to emphasize why flow batteries are promising for long-duration energy storage. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Lithium-ion systems dominate installations due to high round-trip efficiency and falling costs, although thermal runaway risks demand extensive safety measures in dense urban settings and compliance protocols.
Grid operators use storage to shave peaks, saving utilities and customers money during high-demand evenings when wholesale prices rise and distribution networks face stress most.
Because flow batteries use external tanks, they can deliver longer discharge durations with minimal degradation, and several states now incentivize long-duration projects of four to twelve hours, making the technology attractive despite bulkier footprints.
Interconnection queues and permitting delays slow deployment on constrained transmission lines, affecting both battery types regardless of their chemistry or discharge duration capabilities across multiple regions.
Explanation
C cites flow batteries' long-duration capabilities and relevant policy incentives supporting them. A, B, and D present true information that does not explain why flow batteries suit long-duration needs.
The student wants to emphasize the combined strategy's public health benefits in vulnerable areas. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Modeling shows that combining expanded tree canopy with widespread cool roofs could cut heat-related emergency calls by an estimated 12 percent in high-risk neighborhoods, aligning with equity priorities along exposed transit corridors.
Cool roofs lowered rooftop surface temperatures by up to 30 degrees, though they require re-coating every 10 to 15 years, illustrating a maintenance trade-off rather than neighborhood health outcomes.
Expanding tree canopy by 30 percent reduced average afternoon temperatures 2 to 3 degrees citywide, and those benefits persist under higher humidity, according to the model.
Together, trees and cool roofs virtually eliminated heat-related emergency calls citywide and produced a 40 percent decline in vulnerable areas within two years, ending disparities in exposure.
Explanation
B uses the 12 percent decline in emergency calls and mentions high-risk areas consistent with equity priorities. A and C focus on temperatures or maintenance, while D exaggerates outcomes not supported by the notes.
The student wants to emphasize the urgency of addressing microplastics because of ecological and human exposure impacts. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Water treatment plants remove many particles before discharge, and downstream communities have not reported changes in taste or clarity since mid-decade monitoring began in 2015.
Policymakers are considering additive phaseouts while industry favors voluntary measures, and residents downstream report no noticeable changes in water taste or clarity since 2015 despite testing.
Lawmakers have introduced proposals to phase out specific plastic additives as part of broader, collaborative pollution-control efforts with local industries across the region this year.
With microplastics found at 87% of sites and in tap water in most tested cities, and linked to reduced growth in fish, action is urgent despite lingering uncertainty about human health effects.
Explanation
Option B connects widespread detection, documented ecological harm to fish, and tap-water presence to justify urgency. The other choices focus on policy positions, treatment efficacy, or taste reports, which downplay or sidestep the urgent impact argument.
The student wants to emphasize that most routes can be electrified now despite permitting delays. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Overnight depot charging would cover all daily routes, eliminating the need for on-route chargers or any permitting processes before the city begins electrification at scale.
Because overnight depot charging would fully cover roughly 80 percent of daily routes and on-route fast chargers face permit delays, the city can electrify most service now while installing additional chargers later.
Air-quality monitors near schools recorded lower particulates on pilot days, and drivers reported improved scheduling after workshops addressing range concerns during the electric bus program.
Federal grants offset some higher upfront costs, and many diesel buses are nearing retirement, making a replacement schedule urgent for the city fleet this decade.
Explanation
Choice B uses the 80 percent depot-charging figure and acknowledges permitting delays to show near-term feasibility. The other choices discuss costs, air quality, or incorrectly claim all routes can be covered without on-route chargers.
The student wants to emphasize that integrating Indigenous knowledge can make prescribed fire more effective. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Smoke management requirements and narrow weather windows constrain when prescribed burns can safely occur near populated areas, limiting opportunities to treat large acreages quickly each season.
Collaborations with tribal leaders bring cultural burning knowledge into prescribed-fire programs, improving burn planning and ecological outcomes; low-intensity, patchy burns reduce fuel loads and create mosaics that slow future fires and protect communities.
Mechanical thinning can complement planned burning by removing ladder fuels in places where fire use is limited by terrain or proximity to homes and infrastructure.
Decades of strict fire suppression allowed vegetation to accumulate, increasing the likelihood of high-intensity wildfires that threaten communities and ecosystems across fire-adapted landscapes during extreme weather conditions.
Explanation
D shows how partnering with tribal leaders enhances planning and ecological results and explains the benefits of low-intensity, patchy burning. A, B, and C are accurate but focus on suppression legacies, operational constraints, or mechanical thinning instead.
The student wants to emphasize that most microplastic pollution is land-based while discarded fishing gear disproportionately harms wildlife. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Wastewater treatment plants capture many microfibers but still release significant amounts into waterways at current capacities, indicating that infrastructure upgrades alone will not eliminate microplastic pollution.
Most microplastic enters from land-based sources such as tire wear, textiles, and mismanaged waste carried by rivers, yet discarded fishing gear, a smaller mass fraction, disproportionately harms wildlife by entangling marine mammals, turtles, and seabirds.
Coastal cleanups efficiently remove large debris from beaches but cannot address microscopic particles suspended in water, limiting their effectiveness against pervasive microplastic contamination across many coastlines.
Policies targeting stormwater runoff and tire-derived particles could substantially reduce microplastic loads, focusing on major land-based sources rather than beach litter removal for long-term prevention.
Explanation
B contrasts the dominant land-based sources with the outsized entanglement harm from fishing gear. A, C, and D are accurate but discuss treatment limits, cleanup effectiveness, or policy focus without juxtaposing sources and impacts.