SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars in February 2021.
• It carried an experimental instrument called MOXIE.
• MOXIE converted carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into oxygen.
• NASA hoped the technology could one day supply oxygen for astronauts to breathe and for rocket fuel.
The student wants to explain the purpose of MOXIE. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
The Perseverance rover, which carried an instrument called MOXIE, landed on Mars in February 2021.
MOXIE, an instrument on the Perseverance rover, tested a way of turning Martian carbon dioxide into oxygen that astronauts could someday breathe or use for rocket fuel.
The Martian atmosphere contains carbon dioxide.
In February 2021, NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
A purpose is what something is meant to do. Choice B says what MOXIE did (turned carbon dioxide into oxygen) and why that matters (oxygen for astronauts and rocket fuel). Choice A names MOXIE but says only when the rover landed, and choices C and D don't explain the instrument at all.
Choice A mentions MOXIE by name but tells the reader nothing about what it was for.
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