Digital PSAT Reading and Writing Practie Test 6: Cross-Text Connections

1

Text 1

If both Chicago and Indianapolis expanded their radii by fewer than 100 miles, they would spill into one another. All the farmland between the two would be gone. It's a rather scary enigma: we expand our cities because our population is growing, yet we decrease our ability to sustain ourselves by doing so.

Text 2

If done correctly, vertical expansion would greatly decrease our need for cars. A large city would actually be made up of many mini-communities. Each community would be a self-serving network of high rises. Food would likely still need to be imported, but the people in each community would be able to walk to the grocery store. Residents would walk to work. Each community would have workers specialized in the various essential professions.

Which of the following best describes the relationship between the texts?

2

Text 1

Students should be permitted to leave school during lunch periods. Having the opportunity to get off school grounds and recharge will build student morale and empower students to be more focused when they return from their meal. Additionally, giving students the chance to leave school for lunch will likely encourage more physical activity, as many students will walk home or to a nearby restaurant.

Text 2

Many people are rightly concerned that some students cannot be trusted to act appropriately with the freedom to leave school during lunch. Rather than letting a few bad apples spoil the barrel, schools should prohibit troublemakers from leaving the school grounds, while allowing responsible students the freedom to make their own choices.

The two texts differ in arguments in that

3

Text 1

Some non-native plants are introduced to new territories accidentally via interregional soil and food trade. Accidental introduction of non-native organisms can often have negative and unforeseen consequences. For example, the Asian chestnut blight fungus was unexpectedly brought to the United States through the trade of plants; this fungus nearly wiped out the entire American chestnut population, harming many animals that depended on chestnuts for food.

Text 2

For the past fifty years, it has been the conventional credence of ecologists and biologists alike that invasive, non-native plant species are, without exception, detrimental to the host ecosystem. However, recent studies at Penn State University indicate that the eradication of invasive plants-specifically fruit-bearing shrubs-can do more harm than good for the native animal populations.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 describe the overall view presented in Text 1?

4

Text 1

If the eruption of smartphones has been the vanguard of anything, it is the near societal takeover of social media. Within the workplace, most supervisors quickly block sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram from company computers, and for good reason. Productivity is likely to decrease if three hours of an eight-hour workday are spent liking and tweeting and pinning. Then there is company bad-mouthing to consider. In the digital age, nothing one says or does or records online is private-nothing.

Text 2

The unique ability of social media to market company services and extend company reputation is indispensable. Many startup businesses find that they simply cannot compete without a social media page to deliver their mission and broaden their contacts. It can simply be the best tool available for advertising, marketing, expansion, and customer feedback. Likewise, it provides an unrivaled medium for market research.

It can be reasonably concluded that the authors of both Text 1 and Text 2 would most likely agree with which of the following statements?

5

Text 1

According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, teenagers (13-18 years old) should aim for 8-10 hours of sleep during each 24-hour period. According to a national survey, however, 73 percent of students reported not getting enough sleep during school nights.

Text 2

The early start time for high school is a major problem for students. When I was of high school age, I found it exceedingly difficult to fall asleep before midnight, despite my best efforts to go to bed around 10 PM. When the alarm clock woke me up at 6 AM, I was exhausted and certainly not in the best frame of mind to learn.

What would the authors of the texts most likely consider to be a reasonable solution to teenage sleep deprivation?

6

Text 1 is from Sojourner Truth's 1815 speech at the Women's Convention in Akron, Ohio. Text 2 is from Carrie Chapman Catt's 1917 Address to the Congress on Women's Suffrage.

Text 1

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I could have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?

Text 2

Your party platforms have pledged women suffrage. Then why not be honest, frank friends of our cause, adopt it in reality as your own, make it a party program, and fight with us? . . . We shall all be better friends, we shall have a happier nation, we women will be free to support loyally the party of our choice, and we shall be far prouder of our history.

Both texts use which of the following argumentative techniques?