SAT OwlQuestion bank / Rhetorical Synthesis
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
• Many business owners expected a new bypass road around the town of Carver to hurt shops on its Main Street by drawing traffic away.
• Economist Sven Aldous studied Main Street sales before and after the bypass opened in 2016.
• Truck traffic on Main Street fell by 60 percent.
• Sales at Main Street shops and restaurants rose by 15 percent over the next three years.
• Aldous suggests that the quieter street became more pleasant for people on foot.
The student wants to emphasize that Aldous's finding was contrary to expectations. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
After the bypass opened in 2016, truck traffic on Carver's Main Street fell by 60 percent.
Aldous studied sales on Carver's Main Street before and after a bypass opened in 2016.
Aldous suggests that Main Street became more pleasant for people on foot after truck traffic fell.
Although many business owners expected the bypass to hurt Main Street shops, Aldous found that sales there rose by 15 percent.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
To show a finding went against expectations, the sentence needs both the expectation and the finding. Choice D gives the expectation (the bypass would hurt shops) and the opposite result (sales rose 15 percent), linked by "Although."
Choice A reports a real change, but less truck traffic is exactly what a bypass is supposed to bring, so it isn't surprising.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Less truck traffic is what a bypass is expected to bring, so this doesn't show a surprising result.
- B. This describes what Aldous studied, not what he found.
- C. This gives Aldous's explanation without stating the result or the expectation it overturned.
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