SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Many historians describe the invention of the mechanical clock in medieval Europe as a turning point that immediately transformed daily life, imposing strict schedules on workers and townspeople.
Text 2: Early mechanical clocks were expensive and inaccurate, and many lacked minute hands; some lost or gained fifteen minutes a day. For centuries after their invention, most people continued to organize their days by sunrise, sunset, and church bells rung by hand. The clock's power to regulate daily life grew slowly as clocks became cheaper and more precise.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the historians' description in Text 1?
By agreeing that the clock quickly imposed strict schedules on workers
By claiming that mechanical clocks were first invented outside Europe
By arguing that the clock's effect on daily life was gradual rather than immediate
By asserting that church bells kept time more accurately than mechanical clocks
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C
Text 1 says the clock "immediately transformed daily life." Text 2 says early clocks were costly and inaccurate, that people kept older timekeeping habits for centuries, and that the clock's influence "grew slowly." The author would reply that the change was gradual, choice C.
Choice D is not supported; Text 2 says people relied on church bells, but it never claims the bells were more accurate.
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