SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Many people believe that bulls are enraged by the color red. That is why, they say, bullfighters wave red capes: the color itself provokes the animal to charge.
Text 2: Cattle have only two types of color-sensing cells in their eyes and cannot tell red from many other colors. In tests, bulls charged at capes of several different colors just as readily as at red ones, as long as the capes were waved. A red cape held still drew little attention.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the belief described in Text 1?
By agreeing that red capes provoke bulls more than capes of other colors do
By arguing that the motion of the cape, not its color, provokes the bull
By claiming that bulls charge only at capes that are held still
By suggesting that bullfighters should use green capes instead of red ones
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
Text 2 says bulls can't tell red from many other colors and charged waved capes of any color, while a still red cape drew little attention. The author would say movement, not color, provokes the charge, choice B.
Choice C reverses the finding in Text 2, where the still red cape drew little attention.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Text 2 says bulls charged capes of several colors just as readily as red ones, which rejects this belief.
- C. Text 2 says a still red cape drew little attention, so this reverses its finding.
- D. Text 2 suggests color doesn't matter, so switching colors wouldn't help, and it makes no recommendation.
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