Question while-
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Las sergas de Esplandián was a novel popular in sixteenth-century Spain.
- The novel featured a fictional island inhabited solely by Black women and known as California.
- That same century, Spanish explorers learned of an “island” off the west coast of Mexico.
- They called it California after the island in the novel.
- The “island” was actually the peninsula now known as Baja California (“Lower California”), which lies to the south of the US state of California.
The student wants to emphasize the role a misconception played in the naming of a place. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
In the sixteenth century, Spanish explorers learned of a peninsula off the west coast of Mexico and called it California.
Thinking it was an island, Spanish explorers called a peninsula California after an island in a popular novel.
The novel Las sergas de Esplandián featured a fictional island known as California.
To the south of the US state of California lies Baja California (“Lower California”), originally called California after a fictional place.
While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes: Las sergas de Esplandián was
Hard-difficulty · SAT Reading & Writing · Rhetorical Synthesis — Selecting a claim supported by multiple findings. Read the question above, select your answer, and check the full explanation below to understand exactly why the correct choice works.
Answer explanation
Choice D is the best answer. The sentence emphasizes the role a misconception played in the naming of a place, explaining that Spanish explorers mistook a peninsula for an island and, as a result, named the peninsula after a fictional island, California.
Choice A is incorrect. The sentence mentions a novel that featured a fictional island, California; it doesn’t emphasize the role a misconception played in the naming of a place. Choice B is incorrect. The sentence notes that Baja California was originally named after a fictional place; it doesn’t emphasize the role a misconception—specifically, the Spanish explorers’ mistaken belief that the peninsula was an island—played in the naming of a place. Choice C is incorrect. The sentence indies when Spanish explorers learned of the peninsula they called California; it doesn’t emphasize the role a misconception played in the naming of a place.
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