Question 128·Medium·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Technological innovations have made digital files inexpensive and ubiquitous. Public libraries now lend e-books that patrons can download instantly without leaving home. Given this convenience and the cost of maintaining brick-and-mortar bookstores, communities should stop trying to save local bookshops and instead direct their limited cultural funds to expanding digital library collections. In the twenty-first century, sentimentality should not govern policy.
Text 2
The argument for abandoning neighborhood bookstores overlooks the distinct value they provide. Unlike an online library portal, a physical bookstore offers spontaneous discovery, face-to-face recommendations, and author readings that foster civic dialogue. Data from the American Booksellers Association show that towns with active bookstores host 30 percent more literary events than those without. Local shops therefore complement—rather than duplicate—library services and deserve continued support.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the claim in Text 1?
For cross-text connection questions, first identify the main claim or recommendation in each text—what each author wants or believes should happen. Then decide whether the second author would agree, disagree, or modify the first author’s claim, using specific reasons given in the second text. Finally, scan the answer choices to find the one that matches both the stance (agree/disagree) and the type of reasoning or evidence mentioned in the second text, eliminating any choices that introduce new topics or reverse the author’s position.
Hints
Clarify each text’s main point
First, restate in your own words what Text 1 is recommending about local bookstores and funding. Then restate what Text 2 says should happen to local bookstores.
Focus on whether Text 2 agrees or disagrees
Ask: Does Text 2 support the idea of abandoning bookstores, or does it push back against that idea? Look especially at the opening sentence and the conclusion of Text 2.
Connect Text 2’s reasons to the choices
Look at the specific benefits of bookstores that Text 2 lists. Which choice reflects those kinds of benefits and a disagreement with shifting all support to digital libraries?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify Text 1’s main claim
Look at the bolded sentence in Text 1. It says communities should stop trying to save local bookshops and instead put their cultural funds into digital library collections. So Text 1 is arguing that brick‑and‑mortar bookstores are no longer worth supporting compared to digital options.
Identify Text 2’s main claim
Text 2 starts by saying the argument for abandoning bookstores overlooks the distinct value they provide. It then lists specific benefits: spontaneous discovery, face‑to‑face recommendations, author readings, and more literary events. It concludes that local shops complement library services and deserve continued support. So Text 2 is clearly defending bookstores, not abandoning them.
Determine how Text 2 responds to Text 1
Text 1 says: stop saving bookstores and spend money on digital libraries. Text 2 responds by saying: that idea ignores what bookstores uniquely do for communities (events, in‑person interaction, civic dialogue) and that they work with libraries instead of duplicating them. So the author of Text 2 would disagree with Text 1 and argue that bookstores offer special community value that justifies continued support.
Match that response to the answer choices
The only option that both disagrees with abandoning bookstores and uses the idea that they offer unique, community‑based benefits beyond digital libraries is B) By arguing that physical bookstores supply community benefits that digital libraries cannot replace. The other choices either agree with abandoning bookstores, claim bookstores are unnecessary, or introduce unrelated ideas.