A question about one author’s response to another tests how you connect their claims and reasons. Read the question for who answers whom, then sum up each text’s main claim and reason. Ask whether the author would reject the claim, accept it only within limits, or apply it to a new case. Then check the reason, because a response needs the answering author’s own evidence as well as the right view.
Hints
- Hint 1
The question asks Text 2’s author to answer Text 1. Look for the main claim at the end of Text 1.
- Hint 2
Compare Text 2’s survey finding with Text 1’s final claim. Does the finding support that claim, limit it, or work against it?
Step-by-step
Find the view and its reason
Step 1Identify who answers and what they answer
The question asks how the author of Text 2 would most likely respond, so we use Text 2’s point of view. What claim does that author need to answer? Text 1 ends with Productivity inevitably suffers when workers aren’t under the same roof. It blames distractions and managers’ difficulty checking work, so its claim is that remote work always lowers output.
- Step 2
Find Text 2’s evidence
What does Text 2 show? Its survey found that home workers completed 13 percent more tasks per week than their in-office counterparts. Digital platforms also make their contributions visible to managers, and flexible schedules can improve focus. Text 2 gives evidence that remote work can succeed, not a guarantee that it always will.
- Step 3
Separate what Text 2 accepts from what it rejects
Text 2 accepts that in-person interaction can be valuable, but what does it refuse to accept? Text 1’s word inevitably means the productivity loss must happen whenever people work apart. The survey gives a case where home workers got more done, so the author would reject the claim that productivity must fall. Accepting the value of office interaction doesn’t mean accepting Text 1’s conclusion.
- Step 4
Match the response to its reason
Which response uses Text 2’s own reason? Measurable productivity gains names the survey’s 13 percent advantage, while contradict the claim that they accomplish less uses that evidence to challenge Text 1’s productivity claim. Choice B.