Question 126·Hard·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Nineteenth-century explorers often kept detailed handwritten diaries describing weather, terrain, and encounters with local communities. Because many of these diaries were subsequently donated to libraries and carefully cataloged, present-day historians can consult them as authoritative primary sources. The systematic archiving of such documents has made it possible to compare independent accounts, trace routes with precision, and correct errors in later retellings of expeditions.
Text 2
Contemporary travel bloggers publish vivid descriptions and photographs that could one day illuminate twenty-first-century mobility, yet researchers already worry that this trove of material is alarmingly fragile. Blogging platforms shut down, hyperlinks break, and image files get compressed or deleted. Without a coordinated effort to preserve online posts, future scholars may find the digital record of our era patchy at best.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 1 most likely respond to the concerns expressed in Text 2?
For cross-text questions asking how one author would respond to another, first identify the main point and attitude of each text (what each author values or worries about). Then, imagine the first author reacting directly to the second author’s concern, using only evidence and tone from the first text. When checking choices, quickly eliminate any that (1) introduce new opinions not supported by the first text, (2) change the topic (for example, from preservation to writing style), or (3) contradict the first author’s clear values. The correct answer will typically apply the principle or practice highlighted in the first text to the situation described in the second.
Hints
Summarize each text’s main idea
Briefly restate what Text 1 says about explorers’ diaries and what Text 2 says about travel blogs. What is the main benefit described in Text 1, and what is the main worry described in Text 2?
Focus on what Text 1 values
In Text 1, what specific practice made the diaries so useful to historians? Think about where the diaries went and how they were handled over time.
Connect Text 1’s practice to Text 2’s problem
If the author of Text 1 believes systematic archiving is helpful, how might that person respond to the fear that digital blogs may be lost? Would they be likely to say it’s not a problem, or to suggest some kind of solution?
Check whether choices add new opinions
Be careful of choices that introduce ideas not found in either text, such as ranking handwritten over digital sources or criticizing writing style. The best choice should build directly on the values and practices shown in Text 1.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the main point of Text 1
Read Text 1 and summarize it in your own words.
Text 1 explains that nineteenth-century explorers’ handwritten diaries were carefully preserved (donated to libraries, cataloged, and archived). Because of this preservation, historians today can use them as reliable primary sources and can compare accounts, trace routes, and correct errors.
Key idea: systematic preservation of records helps future historians.
Understand the main concern of Text 2
Now focus on Text 2. It discusses modern travel blogs, which also contain valuable information about twenty-first-century travel. However, these digital records are fragile: platforms shut down, links break, files disappear.
Key idea: the author of Text 2 is worried that without coordinated preservation, future scholars will not have a complete digital record of our era.
Infer how the author of Text 1 would react to Text 2’s worry
Ask: if the author of Text 1 heard the concerns in Text 2, what would they probably say, based on their own text?
Since Text 1 shows that careful archiving of diaries made them extremely useful for historians, that author clearly supports systematic preservation of travel accounts. They would likely see the loss of digital blogs as a real problem and would favor organizing and protecting those records for future use, similar to what was done with the diaries.
Match that inference to the answer choices
Now compare that inferred reaction to each answer choice:
- Eliminate any choice that dismisses the problem or claims handwritten sources are inherently better than digital ones, since Text 1 never says that.
- Eliminate any choice that shifts to telling writers how to write (style) rather than how to preserve their work.
- Select the choice that describes using the successful archival practices from nineteenth-century diaries as a model for preserving today’s travel blogs, because that directly connects the positive example in Text 1 to the concern in Text 2.
The correct answer is: By noting that the careful preservation of nineteenth-century explorers’ diaries offers a model that could be adapted to safeguard today’s travel blogs.