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SAT cross-text questions: how would one author respond to the other?

Two short texts, one question: how would one author respond to the other? Learn to summarize each position in a line, find where they touch, and pick a response that is neither too weak nor too strong.

SPSAT Practice Editorial7 min read

The short version

What you'll take away

  • Summarize each text’s main position in one short line before you look at the choices.
  • Find the point where the texts overlap. The response is usually about that point.
  • Most responses are partial: agreeing with a qualification is more common than total rejection.
In this article

What cross-text questions ask

Cross-Text Connections questions, part of the Craft and Structure domain, give you two short texts on the same topic. A typical question asks how the author of Text 2 would most likely respond to a claim or finding in Text 1.
The texts are short, but the question requires you to compare two lines of reasoning. The answer depends on the relationship between the texts, not on either text alone.

Map both positions side by side

Start by writing each author’s main point in a few words. Then find the spot where the texts meet: the shared claim, finding, or explanation. Here is a pair of example texts written for this article.

See the skill

Two positions, one point of contact

Text 1

School start times and attendance

Some educators argue that starting school later improves attendance mainly because teenagers get more sleep.

Text 2

The same policy, studied in one district

When a district started school later, attendance improved only at schools that also added late bus routes.

How they relate

Text 2 qualifies Text 1: later start times may help, but transportation may matter as much as sleep. Text 2 neither fully agrees nor fully rejects.

Example texts written for practice, not real study results. The point of contact is the explanation for the improvement in attendance.

Four relationships to recognize

Most pairs fall into a small number of patterns. Naming the pattern before reading the choices helps you reject answers that are too strong or too weak.

See the skill

How Text 2 can relate to Text 1

Agrees

Supports

Text 2 offers new evidence for Text 1’s claim.

Disagrees

Challenges

Text 2’s evidence contradicts Text 1’s conclusion.

Qualifies

Yes, but…

Text 2 accepts part of the claim and adds a limit or another factor.

Extends

Builds on

Text 2 applies Text 1’s idea to a new case.

Use the visual as a reasoning aid: tie each choice to the relationship, grammar, or evidence the passage actually gives.

Try it

Use the map above. The question asks about the explanation in Text 1, so the right answer must address why attendance changed.

Your turn

Quick practice

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the explanation in Text 1?

Hint: Does Text 2 say the policy failed, or that it worked only under a condition?

Choose one answer

A routine for test day

Read Text 1 and write a short summary. Read Text 2 and do the same. Name the relationship, predict the response in your own words, and then choose the option that matches both its content and its strength.
  • Summarize each text in one short line.
  • Find the shared claim or finding.
  • Name the relationship: agrees, disagrees, qualifies, or extends.
  • Reject choices that are stronger or weaker than the text supports.

Sources & further reading

One step from here

Put the idea to work.

SAT Practice helps you turn questions into useful feedback, so each session has a next step.

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