SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Fallingwater is a house in rural Pennsylvania designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
• It was completed in 1939 and built directly over a waterfall.
• The Sydney Opera House is a performing arts center in Australia designed by architect Jørn Utzon.
• It opened in 1973 on Bennelong Point, which is surrounded on three sides by Sydney Harbour.
• Both buildings are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The student wants to emphasize a similarity in the two buildings' settings. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Fallingwater, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, was completed in 1939, more than thirty years before the Sydney Opera House opened.
Both Fallingwater and the Sydney Opera House were designed by famous architects, Frank Lloyd Wright and Jørn Utzon.
Both Fallingwater and the Sydney Opera House are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Fallingwater and the Sydney Opera House are both closely tied to water: one sits directly over a waterfall, and the other occupies a point surrounded by a harbor on three sides.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
The goal asks for a similarity in the buildings' settings, meaning where and how they are sited. Choice D identifies that shared feature: both are built right beside or above water. Choices B and C give real similarities, but they concern the architects and the buildings' status, not their settings. Choice A points out a difference in dates.
Choice C names a real similarity, but World Heritage status is not part of a building's setting.
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