SAT OwlQuestion bank / Cross-Text Connections
Text 1: Many economists argue that tipping in restaurants gives servers a reason to provide good service. Because customers can reward better service with larger tips, the argument goes, servers who work harder will earn more.
Text 2: Hospitality researcher Owen Lacey analyzed thousands of restaurant bills along with customers' ratings of their service. He found that the size of a tip depended only weakly on how customers rated the service. Tips varied far more with factors such as the size of the bill, the weather, and whether the server gave his or her name.
Based on the texts, how would Lacey most likely respond to the economists' argument in Text 1?
By agreeing that tips closely track the quality of service that customers receive
By arguing that the link between service and tips is too weak to give servers much reason to improve their service
By claiming that customers who rate service poorly tend to leave larger tips
By suggesting that restaurants should raise menu prices so that servers earn larger tips
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B
The economists' argument depends on tips rising with better service. Lacey found that tips depend only weakly on service ratings and much more on other factors. He would say the incentive the economists describe is weak, choice B.
Choice D draws on Lacey's finding about bill size, but he only reports what affects tips; he makes no recommendation.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. Lacey found tips depend only weakly on service ratings, which contradicts this.
- C. Lacey found a weak link between service and tips, not a reversed one.
- D. Bill size affects tips, but Lacey makes no recommendation about menu prices.
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