SAT Reading & Writing: Cross-Text Connections (Paired Passages)
26+ practice questions in Praczo
The concept, explained
- 1
Some Digital SAT questions pair two short texts and ask how they relate — do they agree, disagree, complement, or contradict each other?
- 2
Read each text independently first, identifying each author's main claim and perspective.
- 3
Then identify the relationship: agreement = both make the same point; disagreement = one contradicts the other; complementary = different angles on the same issue.
- 4
Questions may ask: "How would Author 2 respond to Author 1's claim?" — identify Author 1's claim, then apply Author 2's perspective.
- 5
Avoid answer choices that misrepresent either author's position, even if they contain words from one of the texts.
- ✗ Assuming two texts on the same topic must agree — they often present contrasting views on purpose.
- ✗ Applying one author's opinion to both texts when answering "how would Author 2 respond?"
SAT-style practice
Text 1 argues that social media improves community connections. Text 2 presents data showing increased loneliness among heavy social media users. How do these texts relate?
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