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Verbal·Expression of Ideas·Rhetorical Synthesis
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While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
  • Uranus has twenty-seven moons, including Oberon and Miranda.
  • Oberon completes an orbit of Uranus in 13.46 Earth days on average.
  • Miranda completes an orbit of Uranus in 1.41 Earth days on average.
  • German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) described the orbits of planets as elliptical in shape rather than circular.
  • Kepler published three laws of planetary motion to describe the orbits of planets around the Sun.
  • Kepler’s laws also apply to the elliptical orbits of natural satellites (e.g., moons).
The student wants to contrast the orbits of the two moons. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?
A
Miranda completes its orbit of Uranus many times faster than Oberon does.
B
Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion describe the orbits of planets and natural satellites, including those of Oberon and Miranda.
C
Oberon’s orbit of Uranus is elliptical in shape and takes, on average, 13.46 Earth days, while Miranda’s orbit of Uranus is circular in shape and takes, on average, 1.41 Earth days.
D
Uranus’s moons, specifically Oberon and Miranda, orbit their planet in the same way the planets orbit the Sun.