SAT Cross-Text Connections Questions
Two short passages taking different positions. You are asked how the second author would respond to the first, or where exactly the two disagree.
In short
- Cross-Text Connections is part of Craft and Structure, about 28% of the scored Reading and Writing questions: 13 to 15 on every test.
- Craft and Structure questions come first in every Reading and Writing module, grouped by topic and arranged from easiest to hardest.
- Wrong relationship is the trap Rivie's practice tests set most often in Cross-Text Connections questions.
Common traps
Most common first, from Rivie's ten practice tests.
Wrong relationship
Two-text or evidence questions: you correctly identified the topic but mislabeled how the texts (or claim and evidence) relate, supports vs. challenges vs. extends vs. illustrates.
The usual mistake: You skim Text 2 for the same nouns as Text 1 and pick 'agrees' or 'disagrees' based on overlap, instead of asking what each author is doing with the topic.
Missing half of comparison
Question asks about how X compares to Y; the wrong choice describes only X (or only Y) without the comparative half.
The usual mistake: You pick an answer about the named term and miss that the prompt is about a relationship.
Cross-text reversal
Dual-passage questions where the wrong choice swaps the authors' positions, attributing Text 1's argument to Text 2's author or vice versa.
The usual mistake: You remember the gist of both passages but lose track of which author claimed what when the question pivots between them.
Overstated disagreement
Two-text question: the wrong choice claims the authors disagree more than they actually do. They might disagree on emphasis but not on the underlying claim.
The usual mistake: You hear 'two perspectives' and assume opposition. Often both authors agree on the fact and differ only on what to do about it.
Try a question
From Rivie's practice tests. Pick an answer to see why it is right or wrong.
Text 1: A common claim in popular accounts of memory is that we 'store' experiences much as a camera records images, and 'retrieve' them later more or less intact. Text 2: Decades of laboratory research have shown that recall is reconstructive: each act of remembering involves rebuilding the event from fragments, often borrowing details from later experiences. The 'camera' metaphor obscures more than it explains.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claim in Text 1?
Video lessons
Free on YouTube, picked for this topic.