Question 124·Easy·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
When the city proposed replacing the neighborhood’s central plaza with a parking garage, residents crowded the public meeting and shared maps of how they used the space for markets and performances. Their input persuaded the council to redesign the plan, keeping the plaza and adding shaded seating. The outcome suggested that people who spend time in a place know what makes it work.
Text 2
An urban planning professor analyzed a dozen city projects and found that those with early, sustained public input finished sooner and required fewer revisions. Projects that treated consultation as a formality tended to face delays and opposition.
Based on the texts, both authors would most likely agree with which statement?
For cross-text connection questions, first summarize each text in a short phrase (for example: “resident input improved the plaza design” and “early public input made projects smoother”). Then ask what idea they share—focus on the overlap in attitude and results. Finally, test each answer choice against both texts, quickly eliminating any that contradict even one passage or add ideas that are not mentioned. This top-down approach is faster and prevents you from being tricked by choices that only fit one text.
Hints
Identify the attitude toward public input in Text 1
Ask yourself: In Text 1, does the author show public meetings and resident input as causing problems, or as helping improve the plan?
Identify the attitude toward public input in Text 2
Look carefully at the results of early, sustained public input in Text 2. Do those projects have more delays, fewer delays, or no clear difference?
Look for the overlap between the texts
Once you know how each text views public input, identify what they have in common. Eliminate any answer choices that clearly contradict either text’s description.
Check each option against both texts
For each answer choice, ask: Does this fit both Text 1 and Text 2, or does it disagree with what at least one author shows?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand Text 1’s main point
Text 1 tells a story about a neighborhood plaza the city wants to replace with a parking garage. Residents go to a public meeting, show how they use the space, and their input changes the plan for the better: the plaza is kept and improved with shaded seating. The final sentence explains the lesson: people who use a place understand what makes it successful.
So, Text 1 presents resident input as valuable and helpful to the project.
Understand Text 2’s main point
Text 2 describes a professor’s study of city projects. It says projects with early, ongoing public input:
- finished sooner, and
- needed fewer revisions.
By contrast, projects where consultation was just a formality had delays and opposition. So Text 2 also presents public input as beneficial, especially when it happens early and is taken seriously.
Find the shared idea between the two texts
Now connect them:
- Text 1: Residents’ input leads to a better design for the plaza.
- Text 2: Early, sustained public input leads to faster completion and fewer revisions.
Both texts show that taking community voices seriously improves planning results. Keep in mind that both texts are positive about meaningful public involvement and show that it can make projects work better.
Match the shared idea to an answer choice
Now check each option against that shared idea:
- A) Says public meetings mainly slow down projects. Text 2 explicitly says the opposite: good public input helps projects finish sooner.
- B) Says expert analysis should replace neighborhood input, but both texts show using neighborhood input is important.
- D) Says large public spaces are less useful than parking garages, but Text 1 shows the plaza is important and kept; Text 2 doesn’t mention this comparison at all.
Only C) “Involving community members early can lead to better project outcomes.” matches what both texts show.
Correct answer: C) Involving community members early can lead to better project outcomes.