How to solve SAT Cross-Text Connections questions

Cross-Text Connections questions give you two short passages on the same topic, labeled Text 1 and Text 2, and ask how they relate. Most often you predict how the author of Text 2, or a person discussed in it, would respond to a claim in Text 1. The skill belongs to the Craft and Structure domain, about 28% of the Reading and Writing section. It is one of the least frequent skills on the test, so you will see only a few of these questions. Each one takes more reading than a typical question, which makes a clear method worth having.

What the questions look like

• Response. "Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?" Sometimes the question names a researcher from Text 2 instead of the author.
• Agreement. "Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?"
• Comparison. Less often, the question asks how the two authors' views of a topic differ, or how Text 2 relates to the argument in Text 1.

Step-by-step method

1. Read Text 1 and sum up its main claim in one line.
2. Read Text 2 and do the same. Then decide how Text 2 relates to Text 1. It may agree, disagree, extend the claim, or qualify it by accepting part of the claim and adding a limit.
3. Find the exact point of contact. Text 2 rarely responds to all of Text 1, so pin down the specific claim it addresses.
4. Predict the answer from Text 2's point of view, using only evidence in Text 2.
5. Choose the option that matches both the direction of the response and the reason for it.

Worked example

Text 1
Many accounts credit the printing press with rapidly spreading literacy across fifteenth-century Europe. Because printed books cost far less than handwritten manuscripts, the argument goes, ordinary people could suddenly afford books, and reading rates rose sharply within a few decades.

Text 2
Printed books did become cheaper after the 1450s, but price was not the only barrier to reading. Historian Clara Wendt points out that schooling remained scarce in many rural areas for generations, and parish records suggest that many farmers' children never learned to read. In Wendt's view, the press made books available long before most people had the training to use them.

Based on the texts, how would Wendt most likely respond to the claim in Text 1 that reading rates rose sharply within a few decades of the printing press?

A) She would agree, because printed books cost less than manuscripts.
B) She would argue that the claim overlooks the lack of schooling that kept many people from learning to read.
C) She would argue that printed books did not actually become cheaper than manuscripts.
D) She would claim that reading rates fell after the printing press was introduced.

Answer: B. Text 2 accepts that books got cheaper but says price was not the only barrier, since many people had no schooling. That is a qualification of Text 1, not a flat rejection. Choice B captures both the disagreement and the reason for it. Choice C contradicts Text 2, which says books "did become cheaper." Choice D is far more extreme than anything Wendt says. Choice A ignores her main point.

A second question on the same pair:

Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and Wendt would most likely agree with which statement?

A) Printed books were less expensive than handwritten manuscripts.
B) Most Europeans learned to read within a few decades of the printing press.
C) Schooling was the main factor in the spread of literacy.
D) Parish records are the best source of evidence about literacy.

Answer: A. Both texts say printed books were cheaper. Choice B overstates Text 1 and conflicts with Text 2. Choices C and D come only from Text 2, and even Text 2 doesn't call schooling "the main factor" or call parish records "the best" source. On agreement questions, look for the point both texts state or accept, which is often the fact the second author concedes.

Common traps

• Answering for the wrong author. A choice can be a perfect summary of Text 1 and still be wrong when the question asks about Text 2's view. Reread the question stem before you choose.
• Total rejection. Text 2 often agrees with part of Text 1 and pushes back on the rest. Choices that say Text 2 rejects everything, or that contradict what Text 2 concedes, are common traps.
• Shared topic, different position. Both texts discuss the same subject, so many choices sound relevant. Check whether the choice reflects what Text 2 actually claims.
• Your own opinion. Predict the response using only what Text 2 says, even if you know more about the topic or disagree with the author.

Quick check

Before reading the choices, finish this sentence: "Text 2 would say Text 1 is right, wrong, or incomplete because..." Then pick the choice that matches your sentence in both direction and reason.