A question about how one author would respond to another tests how their claims and reasons connect. Read the question to find who answers whom and the exact claim being answered. Then put each text's claim and reason in a few words. Decide whether to reject, qualify, or extend the claim: call it wrong, limit it, or take it further. Even when a choice gets the author's response right, its reason must come from the responding text.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look for the reason behind Text 1's claim. Which word makes its warning apply to all digital devices?
- Hint 2
Connect Text 2's examples to its final sentence. What does the author say depends on how the reading environment is designed?
Step-by-step
Match the claim, response, and reason
Step 1Find the claim being answered
Start with the question's claim that on-screen reading weakens comprehension, which Text 2's author must answer. Why does Text 1 make that claim? Its studies found poorer recall on screens, and it says digital devices inevitably invite such distractions. That turns the study findings into a general warning against screen reading, rather than a claim about only the students studied.
- Step 2
Use Text 2 to predict the response
Text 2 describes screens free of pop-ups and hyperlinks that reproduce a printed page's stability. How does that answer the claim about comprehension? Such screens remove sources of distraction, and digital tools can help readers process and remember complex material, so the device itself doesn't have to reduce comprehension. The final sentence adds that, with thoughtful design, engagement equals, and sometimes exceeds, that associated with print. Text 2 rejects the claim as a general rule, without promising that every screen always works better.
- Step 3
Check the reason and its strength
Which response gives the author's own reason? The response about convenience accepts a loss the author argues can be avoided, while short texts and recreational materials add limits the author never gives. The response about well-designed digital platforms keeps Text 2's point about design: When thoughtfully designed. Its words even deeper engagement match sometimes exceeds. Choice A.