SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Some people believe that cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. They argue that the repeated stress on the joints must eventually damage them.
Text 2: Several studies have compared people who regularly crack their knuckles with people who do not, and they found no difference in rates of arthritis between the two groups. One doctor even cracked the knuckles of only one hand for sixty years and found no arthritis in either hand.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the belief described in Text 1?
By agreeing that knuckle cracking damages the joints over time
By pointing out that research has not found a link between knuckle cracking and arthritis
By claiming that knuckle cracking prevents arthritis
By arguing that arthritis is caused mainly by aging
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Text 1 claims knuckle cracking causes arthritis. Text 2 reports studies finding no difference in arthritis rates and one long self-experiment with the same result. The author would say the evidence does not support the belief, choice B.
Choice C overstates Text 2; finding no difference between groups does not show that cracking prevents arthritis.
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