SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Pluto was discovered in 1930 by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh.
• For 76 years, it was considered the ninth planet.
• In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a definition requiring a planet to have cleared its orbit of other objects.
• Pluto shares its orbital zone with many objects in the Kuiper Belt.
• The IAU reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.
The student wants to explain why Pluto was reclassified. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Because Pluto shares its orbital zone with many Kuiper Belt objects, it did not meet the IAU's 2006 requirement that a planet clear its orbit, so it was reclassified as a dwarf planet.
In 2006, the IAU reclassified Pluto, which had been considered the ninth planet for 76 years, as a dwarf planet.
Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh and reclassified in 2006.
The IAU adopted a new definition of a planet in 2006.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
Explaining why requires a reason. Choice A links the new rule (a planet must clear its orbit) to the fact about Pluto (it shares its zone with Kuiper Belt objects) and then to the result (reclassification). Choice B reports the reclassification but not the reason, and choice D mentions the new definition without connecting it to Pluto.
Choice B reports that Pluto was reclassified, which is what happened, not why.
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