Craft and Structure · Reading & Writing
Cross-Text Connections
Two short texts on one topic, and a question about how they relate. Usually: how would the author of Text 2 respond to a specific claim in Text 1?
22 questions in the bank · 3 easier · 13 medium · 6 harder · this domain is ≈28% of the section
What to watch for
Find each author's position before comparing them. Most wrong answers overstate the disagreement — two authors can differ on emphasis while agreeing on the underlying fact.
How the question is worded
These are the actual stems used in the bank — the SAT reuses a small set of wordings, and recognising them saves time on test day.
- Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the supporters' argument in Text 1 that every rooftop hive adds pollinators to the landscape?
- Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1's recommendation?
- On which point do the authors of both texts agree?
- Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1's characterization of the movement?
Worked examples
easyDaylight saving time is a twice-yearly disruption with measurable costs — slee…
Which choice best describes the relationship between the two texts?
- A. Text 2 disputes the evidence about costs that Text 1 cites in support of its own argument
- B. Text 2 restates Text 1's argument closely without adding anything of its own to it
- C. Text 2 accepts Text 1's conclusion but argues that it leaves a crucial question unresolved.
- D. Text 2 rejects Text 1's conclusion and defends the current system of clock changes
Answer: C. Text 2 accepts Text 1's conclusion but argues that it leaves a crucial question unresolved.
Explanation
"The clock changes should indeed end, but…" — agreement on the conclusion, plus the unsettled which-time question. D and A invent disagreements; B ignores the added choice between permanent times.
mediumUrban beekeeping's surge has been welcomed as a conservation success. Every ro…
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the supporters' argument in Text 1 that every rooftop hive adds pollinators to the landscape?
- A. By countering that added honeybee hives can come at the expense of the wild pollinators most in need of support
- B. By conceding that wild pollinators cannot survive in a city under any circumstances
- C. By agreeing that added hives raise overall pollinator numbers and benefit every bee species equally
- D. By arguing that honeybees are in more danger than any of the wild bee species around them
Answer: A. By countering that added honeybee hives can come at the expense of the wild pollinators most in need of support
Explanation
Text 2's core move is competitive displacement: more hives, fewer wild specialists. So "adding pollinators" is challenged as a net accounting error. C erases the disagreement; D reverses which bees are framed as needing help; B overshoots into a claim Text 2 never makes (wild bees decline where hives concentrate — not everywhere).
hardHandwriting instruction deserves its shrinking place in schools. Studies linki…
On which point do the authors of both texts agree?
- A. Handwriting instruction should be removed from schools entirely.
- B. Typed notes produce better recall than handwritten notes.
- C. Students cannot learn to summarize while using keyboards.
- D. Slower note-taking encourages the summarizing that aids recall.
Answer: D. Slower note-taking encourages the summarizing that aids recall.
Explanation
Both accept the mechanism: Text 1 says slowness "forces summarizing," Text 2 says typing's speed invites transcription. Their dispute is whether the summarizing habit can be moved to keyboards — Text 1 optimistic, Text 2 skeptical. A, B, and C each assign one author a position neither fully holds.