Cross-Text Connections

TEXT 1

A city transit analyst argues that dedicated bus lanes make existing trips more dependable. On a route with a fixed timetable, a bus protected from traffic is less likely to arrive late. The analyst therefore recommends evaluating such lanes partly by changes in arrival-time reliability.

TEXT 2

A neighborhood planner notes that predictable arrivals do not make a bus useful if service is infrequent. Someone who has just missed a reliably punctual bus may still face a long wait. The planner recommends examining service frequency alongside measures of punctuality.

How do the two texts differ in their approaches to evaluating bus service?

A. Text 1 emphasizes route coverage, whereas Text 2 emphasizes passengers' waiting time.

B. Text 1 emphasizes a reliability benefit; Text 2 broadens the proposed service measures.

C. Text 1 recommends changing timetables, whereas Text 2 recommends keeping timetables stable.

D. Text 1 treats punctuality as sufficient, whereas Text 2 regards punctuality as irrelevant.

TEXT 1

A researcher studying rooftop gardens found that beds containing more plant species retained moisture longer than beds containing fewer species. She suggests that overlapping leaves reduced sunlight reaching the soil. She cautions, however, that the beds also differed in root density.

TEXT 2

A second researcher accepts the reported moisture difference but questions the proposed mechanism. Dense root systems can change how water moves through soil, he notes. Because root density was not held constant, the results do not establish that leaf cover produced the difference.

Based on the texts, both researchers would most likely agree with which statement?

A. Leaf cover is less influential than root density in determining water retention.

B. The gardens with fewer plant species received more direct sunlight.

C. The beds containing more plant species retained moisture longer in the study.

D. The study was designed to measure the effect of root density alone.

TEXT 1

An archaeologist argues that standardized marks on clay tokens establish that the tokens served as units of exchange. Their repeated forms, she reasons, would have allowed traders to recognize equivalent values without negotiating the worth of each individual token.

TEXT 2

A historian observes that standardized marks also appear on objects used to track contributions to communal stores. Although the tokens may have circulated in trade, their repeated forms alone cannot establish that role. Evidence of their movement between independent households would be more informative.

The authors would most likely disagree about whether

A. the tokens' standardized marks are sufficient evidence that the tokens served as units of exchange.

B. the tokens could have been used to track contributions to communal stores.

C. objects with repeated markings can convey information about value.

D. the movement of tokens between households would help explain their use.

TEXT 1

A theater director argues that a production can preserve a play's central conflict while changing its setting. If the characters still confront the same competing obligations, contemporary costumes and locations need not alter the dramatic problem that gives the work its coherence.

TEXT 2

A critic argues that a recent production, which moved a historical play into a modern office, could not have preserved its central conflict. For the critic, changing the setting necessarily changes that conflict, regardless of how faithfully a production retains the characters' competing obligations.

How would the director in Text 1 most likely respond to the critic's claim about the recent production?

A. By agreeing that the production could preserve its conflict only through historically accurate costumes

B. By arguing that modern office settings make competing obligations easier for audiences to understand

C. By accepting the claim because a production's coherence depends on preserving every feature of its setting

D. By questioning whether the change of setting alone establishes that the central conflict was altered

TEXT 1

A crop scientist reports that a reflective ground covering lowered leaf temperatures in young orchard trees during a week of intense sunshine. Because heat can impair young trees' growth, she argues that the covering could help protect newly planted orchards during hot, sunny periods.

TEXT 2

A second scientist finds the reported cooling promising but notes that the study did not measure long-term growth. Lower leaf temperatures may benefit young trees, yet the size of any growth benefit could depend on water availability and other conditions. She recommends longer trials before estimating that benefit.

Which choice best describes how Text 2 relates to Text 1?

A. It presents evidence that the covering increased heat stress under the reported conditions.

B. It accepts the cooling finding while cautioning against a firm estimate of its longer-term benefit.

C. It attributes the observed cooling to differences in water availability between the trees.

D. It agrees that the covering improves long-term growth but disputes how that growth should be measured.

TEXT 1

A town librarian notes that attendance rose after the library moved its public lectures from weekday afternoons to weekday evenings. She attributes the increase primarily to the new timing: residents with daytime jobs could now attend events that had previously been inaccessible to them.

TEXT 2

A community researcher agrees that attendance rose but notes that the library also began advertising the lectures through local workplaces. In her view, the advertising, rather than the timing change, was the main reason for the increase, although the available attendance totals cannot isolate either factor's contribution.

Which choice best describes the relationship between the texts?

A. They report conflicting attendance trends but propose the same explanation for each trend.

B. They agree on the main cause of increased attendance but differ about how to publicize future lectures.

C. They accept the same attendance change but favor different explanations for its principal cause.

D. They describe independent effects of timing and advertising that the attendance totals conclusively separate.

TEXT 1

An instructor found that novices learning a weaving pattern made fewer errors when given a diagram along with written directions than when given the directions alone. She concludes that adding a diagram can help learners who have little experience interpreting the pattern's written notation.

TEXT 2

A second instructor tested experienced weavers using the same pattern and materials. Adding the diagram did not reduce their errors compared with written directions alone. He suggests that these weavers' familiarity with the notation may have reduced their need for the additional visual support.

How would the second instructor most likely respond to the first instructor's conclusion?

A. By arguing that the novices' improvement establishes a benefit for weavers at every experience level

B. By proposing that the novices received a simpler pattern than the experienced weavers did

C. By concluding that diagrams distract learners who already understand written notation

D. By noting that his finding concerns a different experience level and therefore need not conflict with her conclusion

TEXT 1

A landscape designer argues that a system can be resilient when its components respond differently to stress. If all components fail under the same condition, one disturbance can disable the entire system. Varied responses can allow some functions to continue while other components recover.

TEXT 2

A coastal town planted several tree species along its streets. After an unusually salty storm, one species lost most of its leaves, but two others retained their foliage. Those surviving canopies continued to shade sidewalks while the damaged trees gradually recovered.

Which choice best describes how Text 2 relates to Text 1?

A. It illustrates how different responses to a disturbance can preserve a system's useful function.

B. It shows that resilient systems avoid damage to each of their individual components.

C. It extends the designer's principle by showing that recovery requires repeated disturbances.

D. It challenges the principle by showing that some tree species are vulnerable to salty storms.

TEXT 1

Some reviewers describe a poet's repeated images of mending as expressions of nostalgia for an orderly past. Yet the poems repeatedly show repaired objects being adapted for unfamiliar uses. Rather than simply recovering an earlier order, the poems portray continuity as something made through change.

TEXT 2

A second critic argues that the poet's work resists a strict opposition between preservation and invention. In one poem, a worn sail becomes a child's raincoat: the object's history remains visible even as its purpose changes. Such transformations preserve a connection to the past without recreating it.

Based on the texts, the two authors would most likely agree that the poet's work

A. presents adaptation as valuable chiefly because it restores objects' original purposes.

B. contrasts the reliability of past traditions with the instability of unfamiliar uses.

C. portrays a continuing relationship with the past that can include transformation.

D. supports the reviewers' view that mending expresses a wish to recover an earlier order.

TEXT 1

A music teacher reports that students using slow practice recordings made fewer timing errors during an initial rehearsal than students practicing without recordings. She suggests that recordings can support early coordination, while noting that her observation does not show whether students later perform independently with equal accuracy.

TEXT 2

A researcher agrees that recordings can provide useful timing support during early practice. He argues, however, that evaluating their instructional value also requires testing students after that support is removed. A successful rehearsal with a recording does not by itself demonstrate independent control of timing.

How would the teacher in Text 1 most likely respond to the researcher's argument?

A. By agreeing that independent performance remains untested while maintaining that the observed rehearsal benefit is meaningful

B. By accepting the need for further testing because the initial rehearsal showed no measurable benefit

C. By rejecting the proposed test because independent timing is unrelated to the value of early coordination

D. By agreeing that recordings impair independent timing despite helping students during initial rehearsals