Question 147·Hard·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Histories of political change often credit the printing press with jump-starting democracy. By drastically lowering the cost of producing books, pamphlets, and newspapers, print brought political argument to tradespeople and artisans who had been excluded from elite discourse. As copies multiplied, no single authority could police ideas effectively; censorship lagged behind circulation. The widening readership, newly informed, pressed for representation and legal limits on rulers—reforms made possible by print’s direct expansion of access to information.
Text 2
Some media historians caution that mass production of texts alone does not yield democratic outcomes. In early modern Europe, many presses operated under licenses and patronage, and the most visible printed matter often reinforced prevailing power. What cultivated accountability were the social practices around reading—coffeehouses, salons, and reading societies—where strangers weighed evidence, established norms of credibility, and built networks of trust. Cheap print enabled change only when embedded in such deliberative spaces; absent them, low-cost texts mainly amplified whoever already commanded attention.
Question
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to Text 1’s claim that cheaper printed materials directly led to democratic reforms?
For cross-text questions, first summarize each text’s main claim in a short phrase (e.g., “cheap print directly caused democracy” vs. “cheap print helps only in certain conditions”). Then ask how the second author would respond to a specific statement from the first: do they fully agree, partially agree with a condition, or disagree? Finally, scan the answer choices for the one that best captures that relationship and eliminate options that shift the mechanism (who/what causes the effect) away from what the text actually emphasizes.
Hints
Clarify Text 1’s cause-and-effect claim
Underline the part of Text 1 that explains why the printing press is said to have “jump-started democracy.” What chain of events does the author describe from cheap print to political reform?
Notice the phrase that limits Text 2’s view of print
In Text 2, find the sentence that begins “Some media historians caution that mass production of texts alone...” and read what comes after it carefully. How does this sentence qualify the idea that more printed texts automatically create democracy?
Focus on what Text 2 says actually cultivates accountability
Look at the description of coffeehouses, salons, and reading societies in Text 2. According to the passage, what role do these places and practices play in political change compared with the mere existence of cheap printed texts?
Look for partial agreement plus a condition
When you scan the answer choices, ask: Which option shows that the second author doesn’t completely reject cheap print, but adds an important requirement for it to support democratic reform?
Step-by-step Explanation
Pin down Text 1’s main claim about cheap print
Reread the last sentence of Text 1: it says that “reforms [were] made possible by print’s direct expansion of access to information.”
So, Text 1’s position is:
- Cheaper print → wider access to political argument → more people informed.
- This directly causes democratic reforms like representation and limits on rulers.
In short, Text 1 treats low-cost print and expanded access as a direct driver of democracy.
Understand Text 2’s main warning or qualification
Now look at Text 2, especially these ideas:
- “mass production of texts alone does not yield democratic outcomes.”
- Many presses were licensed or under patronage, and “the most visible printed matter often reinforced prevailing power.”
- “What cultivated accountability were the social practices around reading—coffeehouses, salons, and reading societies—where strangers weighed evidence...”
- “Cheap print enabled change only when embedded in such deliberative spaces; absent them, low-cost texts mainly amplified whoever already commanded attention.”
This shows the author of Text 2 is not saying cheap print is useless. Instead, they say cheap print helps democracy only when it is part of specific social environments where people discuss and evaluate information together.
Figure out how Text 2 would respond to Text 1
Compare the two views:
- Text 1: cheap print → more access → directly leads to democratic reforms.
- Text 2: cheap print by itself does not guarantee democracy; it can even reinforce existing power. It supports democratic accountability when combined with certain reading and discussion practices.
So the author of Text 2 would respond to Text 1 by partly agreeing that wider access to texts mattered but insisting that this access alone was not sufficient. The context in which people used and discussed texts is crucial.
Match this relationship to the answer choices
Now check which option best captures “partial agreement plus an important condition”:
- A) Focuses on licensing/patronage and the way print could reinforce power. That idea is in Text 2, but it doesn’t capture Text 2’s key point about what cultivated accountability (the deliberative reading practices) and can sound like an overall dismissal of cheap print’s democratic potential.
- B) Overstates the independence of deliberative spaces by implying they would produce accountability even without wider access to print. Text 2 says cheap print enabled change when embedded in those spaces, not that print was unnecessary.
- C) Misidentifies the mechanism by shifting the cause to the credibility of prominent writers rather than the collective practices of readers in coffeehouses, salons, and reading societies.
- D) Accurately reflects Text 2: wider access to texts matters, but democratic change depends on the social settings where readers collectively evaluate and debate information.
Correct answer: By agreeing that wider access to texts mattered but emphasizing that democratic change depended on the social settings where readers collectively judged and debated information.