SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Fresco and tempera are two painting techniques used in medieval and Renaissance Europe.
• In fresco, pigment is applied to wet plaster on a wall, and it becomes part of the wall as the plaster dries.
• In tempera, pigment is mixed with egg yolk and applied to a prepared wooden panel.
• Fresco painters had to work quickly, before the plaster dried.
• Tempera dries quickly but can be built up in thin layers.
The student wants to contrast the surfaces on which fresco and tempera paintings were made. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
Fresco painters had to work quickly, before the plaster dried, while tempera can be built up in thin layers.
Fresco and tempera were both used by painters in medieval and Renaissance Europe.
In tempera, pigment was mixed with egg yolk and applied to a prepared wooden panel.
Whereas fresco was painted onto wet plaster on a wall, tempera was applied to a prepared wooden panel.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
The goal is a contrast in surfaces. Choice D sets fresco's wet plaster wall against tempera's wooden panel, using "Whereas" to mark the contrast.
Choice A is a contrast, but it is about working speed and layering, not about surfaces.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This contrasts working speed and layering, not the surfaces the paintings were made on.
- B. This states a similarity between the techniques, not a contrast.
- C. This describes only tempera, so there is no contrast.
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