Question 133·Easy·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Sleep researchers widely agree that blue light from phones and tablets interferes with the body’s nightly release of melatonin. Because of this disruption, they recommend avoiding screens for at least an hour before bedtime to help people fall asleep faster.
Text 2
In a recent trial, volunteers used blue-light–filtering modes on their smartphones for two weeks and then used their phones without the filters for two weeks. The researchers found little difference in sleep duration or reported sleep quality. They propose that the mental stimulation from late-night reading, gaming, or messaging—not just the color of the light—may be what most delays sleep.
Which choice best describes a difference in how the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 explain the effect of evening screen use on sleep?
For cross-text comparison questions, first summarize each text’s main point in a few words (for example, “Text 1: blue light harms sleep” and “Text 2: stimulation delays sleep”). Then, look for the difference or contrast the question asks about and scan the choices for one that accurately captures both summaries without adding new information. Quickly eliminate any option that includes details (like specific age groups, extreme claims, or extra conclusions) that you do not see explicitly stated in the passages.
Hints
Identify the cause in Text 1
Look at the first sentence of Text 1. What specific thing from phones and tablets do sleep researchers say interferes with the body’s release of melatonin, and how is that linked to falling asleep?
Identify the cause in Text 2
In Text 2, what did the researchers change between the two weeks of the study, and what did they find about sleep? After that, what do they suggest might be the real reason people’s sleep is delayed?
Watch for details that never appear
As you read the answer choices, cross out any that mention claims about blue‑light filters, age groups, or sleep improvement that you never saw in either text.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand Text 1’s explanation
Focus on how Text 1 explains the effect of evening screen use on sleep.
Text 1 says that “blue light from phones and tablets interferes with the body’s nightly release of melatonin” and that because of this disruption researchers recommend avoiding screens before bed. So, Text 1 is mainly blaming the blue light for sleep problems, through its effect on melatonin.
Understand Text 2’s explanation
Now look at what Text 2 emphasizes.
It describes a trial where people used blue‑light filters for two weeks and then no filters for two weeks. The researchers found “little difference in sleep duration or reported sleep quality.” Based on that, they “propose that the mental stimulation from late-night reading, gaming, or messaging—not just the color of the light—may be what most delays sleep.”
So Text 2 suggests that what people do on their phones (the mental stimulation) is likely a bigger factor than just the blue light itself.
Compare how the explanations differ
Now put the two views side by side:
- Text 1: sleep is disrupted mainly by blue light interfering with melatonin.
- Text 2: blue‑light filters don’t make much difference; mental stimulation from content is likely what really delays sleep.
The key difference is what each author sees as the main cause of sleep problems from evening screen use: blue light vs. mental stimulation.
Match this difference to the correct answer choice
Check each answer and ask: does it (1) correctly state Text 1’s main cause and (2) correctly state Text 2’s proposed cause, without adding claims that aren’t in the texts?
The only choice that accurately states that Text 1 attributes sleep problems mostly to blue light and Text 2 proposes that mental stimulation from the content is the more likely cause is:
The author of Text 1 attributes sleep problems from evening screen use mainly to blue light, while the author of Text 2 proposes that mental stimulation from content is the more likely cause.