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Cross-Text Connections: Text 1 and Text 2
I worked these out from the practice questions. Each code says where to start reading, where to stop, what you can skip, and why it is safe.
1. One-sentence summaries
- Start:
- Start at the first word of Text 1, then Text 2.
- Stop:
- Stop after each text and say its claim in about 8 words.
- Skip:
- Skip small details (dates, names, numbers) until the choices need them.
- Why:
- In every question the answer depended only on the main claim of each text, and choices that used a small detail were traps.
Used in questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
2. Find the word that Author 2 attacks or adds to
- Start:
- Look in Text 1 for strong words such as only, always, all, in general, alone.
- Stop:
- Stop when you find the word that Text 2 could answer.
- Skip:
- Skip the other parts of Text 1.
- Why:
- In Q3 ('only') and Q4 ('in general') the second text did not deny the whole thing, it targeted that one strong word.
Used in questions 3, 4
3. Match the strength of the verb
- Start:
- Look at the first verb in each choice.
- Stop:
- Stop at verbs like proves, rejects, ignores, always, never.
- Skip:
- Skip any choice with a very strong verb unless Text 2 uses very strong words itself.
- Why:
- Wrong answers in Q1, Q4, Q5, Q6 and Q7 were too strong (proves, claims that no planets, purer motives).
Used in questions 1, 4, 5, 6, 7
4. Test the choice against BOTH texts
- Start:
- Read the choice, then check Text 1, then check Text 2.
- Stop:
- Stop at the first text where the choice fails.
- Skip:
- Skip choices that are true for only one text.
- Why:
- In Q5 the trap about French and in Q8 the trap about the collars were each true for one text only.
Used in questions 5, 8
5. Words of concession show the shift
- Start:
- Find words like 'admits', 'although', 'but', 'yet' in Text 2.
- Stop:
- Stop at the new point after that word.
- Skip:
- Skip the concession itself, which is the weaker part.
- Why:
- In Q1, Q2 and Q7 Text 2 first agreed, then added its own point. The answer follows the new point.
Used in questions 1, 2, 7
6. If Text 2 keeps an idea, do not choose a choice that denies it
- Start:
- Find what Text 2 accepts from Text 1 (the fungus, the rain, the trees).
- Stop:
- Stop when you have listed what is kept.
- Skip:
- Skip choices that attack the kept idea.
- Why:
- In Q3 and Q8 the tempting wrong choices said Text 2 denied something it actually accepted.
Used in questions 3, 8
7. Find the part Text 2 admits and the part it changes
- Start:
- Start at the words in Text 2 such as 'agrees', 'admits', 'does help', 'as critics note'.
- Stop:
- Stop at the point that follows (but, yet, rather than).
- Skip:
- Skip choices that say Text 2 'rejects completely' or 'proves' when Text 2 admits part of Text 1.
- Why:
- In Q13, Q15 and Q16 Text 2 accepted something first. The correct answer kept the concession and the change, while the trap used only one half.
Used in questions 13, 15, 16
8. General claim plus a specific case means 'example'
- Start:
- Start at Text 1 and decide whether it is a general idea.
- Stop:
- Stop at Text 2 and decide whether it reports one named case, place or study.
- Skip:
- Skip choices about disagreement when Text 2 uses the same terms as Text 1 and only adds a case.
- Why:
- In Q10 and Q12 Text 2 added a benefit or an example to the idea in Text 1 instead of arguing with it.
Used in questions 10, 12
9. A pattern is not a cause
- Start:
- Look in Text 1 for 'because' or for 'so schools should' that jumps from a pattern to a cause.
- Stop:
- Stop at the sentence in Text 2 that gives other reasons or other groups where the same result appears.
- Skip:
- Skip choices that say Text 2 'proves' the opposite.
- Why:
- In Q9 and Q16 Text 2 did not deny the pattern; it questioned the cause. That is the usual way a second text answers a first text.
Used in questions 9, 16