SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Scientists have proposed several explanations for how Earth's Moon formed.
• The giant-impact hypothesis proposes that the Moon formed from debris thrown off when a Mars-sized body collided with the early Earth.
• The capture hypothesis proposes that the Moon formed elsewhere in the solar system and was later pulled into orbit by Earth's gravity.
• Moon rocks collected during the Apollo missions have oxygen isotope ratios nearly identical to those of Earth rocks.
• Most scientists today favor the giant-impact hypothesis.
The student wants to contrast the two hypotheses' explanations of where the Moon came from. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
According to the giant-impact hypothesis, the Moon formed from debris after a collision with the early Earth, while the capture hypothesis holds that it formed elsewhere and was later pulled into Earth's orbit.
Most scientists today favor the giant-impact hypothesis over the capture hypothesis.
Moon rocks from the Apollo missions have oxygen isotope ratios nearly identical to those of Earth rocks.
Both the giant-impact hypothesis and the capture hypothesis attempt to explain how Earth's Moon formed.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The goal is to contrast what each hypothesis says about the Moon's origin. Choice A explains both: debris from a collision in one, formation elsewhere followed by capture in the other. Choice B compares how popular the hypotheses are, not what they claim, and choice D gives a similarity.
Choice B names both hypotheses and sets them against each other, but it compares how many scientists accept them, not what they say about the Moon's origin.
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