# SAT Cross-Text Connections: Two Texts, One Method | topin

SAT guidesCross-Text Connections

Section

Reading and Writing, Craft and Structure domain

Count

Usually 1 per module, at the end of Craft and Structure

Format

Two short texts on one topic, labelled Text 1 and Text 2

Typical stem

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to…

Time

Up to two minutes: there are two texts to read

## How it works

Two short texts look at the same topic from different angles. Often Text 1 makes a claim and Text 2 adds evidence that supports, qualifies or challenges it. The question asks how one author, or a researcher described in one text, would most likely respond to a claim or finding in the other. Harder versions need you to spot partial agreement rather than outright disagreement.

## Worked example

Text 1 Community gardens are often promoted as a way to improve diets in neighbourhoods with few grocery shops. Supporters argue that by growing their own vegetables, residents gain reliable access to fresh produce, and that this is the gardens' main benefit. Text 2 A sociologist surveyed gardeners at twelve city plots. Most said their harvests supplied only a small share of the vegetables they ate. Yet nearly all of them said they would keep gardening, and the reason they gave most often was the chance to meet and work alongside neighbours. Based on the texts, how would the gardeners surveyed in Text 2 most likely respond to the supporters' claim in Text 1?

1. ABy agreeing that fresh produce is the main reason people join community gardens.
2. BBy suggesting that the claim overlooks a benefit that gardeners themselves consider more important.
3. CBy arguing that community gardens do not improve residents' access to food at all.
4. DBy pointing out that most neighbourhoods already have enough grocery shops.
Show the answer

B

Text 1 says fresh produce is the gardens' main benefit. In Text 2, the gardeners say the produce is a small share of what they eat and that meeting neighbours is their main reason to garden. So they would say the claim misses the benefit they value most: B. A contradicts Text 2\. C goes too far: the harvest is small, not nothing. D is about grocery shops, which Text 2 never discusses.

## A method for Cross-Text Connections

1. 1  
### Read the question before the texts  
Know whose response you need and to what. The question may name an author, a researcher or a group described in one of the texts.
2. 2  
### Summarise Text 1's claim in a phrase  
For example, "produce is the main benefit". Be precise about scope: main, some, always and only change what counts as disagreement.
3. 3  
### Find what Text 2 says about the same point  
Look for evidence or a view that touches that exact claim. Does it support it, challenge it, or accept part of it and add something?
4. 4  
### Predict, then match  
Put the relationship in your own words, such as "they would say it misses the social benefit", then pick the choice that matches it most closely.

## Traps to avoid

* A choice that accurately describes one text but is not how its author would respond to the other.
* Total disagreement when Text 2 only qualifies or adds to Text 1.
* Mixing up the direction: answering how Text 1's author would respond when the question asks about Text 2.
* A response about a detail neither text discusses, even if it seems reasonable.

## Cross-Text Connections FAQs

How many Cross-Text questions are on the digital SAT?

Usually one per Reading and Writing module, so about two in the whole test. It sits at the end of the Craft and Structure questions.

Should I read both texts before looking at the question?

Read the question first so you know whose view you need, then read both texts. They are short, so reading both in full is quicker than hunting.

Do the two texts always disagree?

No. Often the second text qualifies or extends the first, or uses new evidence that only partly supports it. Do not assume a choice is right just because it describes disagreement.

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