SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, was once covered in palm forests, but by the time Europeans arrived in 1722 the trees were nearly gone. Some researchers have presented the island as a warning. Its people, they argue, cut down the forests to move their famous stone statues and to clear farmland, setting off the collapse of their society long before outsiders arrived.
Text 2: Recent studies paint a different picture. Rats that arrived with the first settlers ate palm seeds, which may explain much of the forest loss. Radiocarbon dates and settlement surveys also suggest that the island's population remained fairly stable until after European contact, when introduced diseases and slave raids devastated it.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the researchers' argument in Text 1?
By agreeing that the island's society collapsed before Europeans arrived but disputing what caused the forests to disappear
By questioning both the claim that the society collapsed before European contact and the claim that cutting by islanders explains the forest loss
By claiming that Rapa Nui was never covered in palm forests
By suggesting that the islanders moved their statues without using any wood
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Text 1 makes two claims: islanders' tree cutting destroyed the forests, and society collapsed before Europeans came. Text 2 challenges both, pointing to rats as a major cause of forest loss and to evidence that the population stayed stable until after contact. Choice B covers both disagreements.
Choice A gets only half of Text 2's response right: Text 2 also disputes the timing, saying the population was stable until after European contact.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This choice incorrectly assumes the author of Text 2 agrees that the society collapsed before European contact. Text 2 explicitly states the population remained stable until after contact, directly disputing that timeline.
- C. Text 2 does not deny that the island was once covered in palm forests. It only disputes the primary cause of the forest loss, suggesting rats ate the seeds rather than human activity.
- D. Neither text discusses the specific methods used to move the stone statues. This choice introduces an unsupported detail that is not addressed in the passage.
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