Question 158·Medium·Cross-Text Connections

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Text 1
Some historians argue that the earliest long-distance Pacific voyages were guided exclusively by memorized star paths. In this view, swells, winds, and animal behavior were too variable to be dependable, so navigators trained primarily in reading the night sky; the star compass alone provided a stable, consistent framework for travel between islands.

Text 2
Interviews with master navigators and records of traditional training suggest that stellar knowledge was central but not solitary. Navigators routinely cross-checked star bearings with the direction and rhythm of ocean swells, the dusk and dawn movements of seabirds, and the distinctive cloud formations that can gather above low coral atolls. When overcast skies obscured stars, these additional cues became primary. Thus, wayfinding relied on a coordinated set of signals rather than any single source.

Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize the claim in Text 1 that Pacific navigators relied exclusively on stars?

A question about two texts tests how one author would judge another author’s claim. Read the question to find who answers whom and the exact claim being judged. Put each text’s claim and reason in a few words, checking words that make a claim stronger or narrower. Then ask, what does the responding author accept or challenge? A choice must give that author’s own reason, because taking the right side isn't enough if the text doesn't support the reason.

Hints

Hint 1
Focus on the word that limits the sources of guidance in Text 1’s claim. What does exclusively mean?
Hint 2
Read Text 2’s examples, including what happened under overcast skies. Ask what those examples show about the exact claim the question names.

Step-by-step

Compare the claim with Text 2’s evidence
Step 1
Find the claim and its reason
The question asks Text 2’s author to judge whether navigators relied exclusively on stars. What reason does Text 1 give for that view? It calls swells, winds, and animal behavior too variable to be dependable, so it treats the stars as the one steady guide for voyages. We're testing reliance on stars alone, not whether stars played an important role.
Step 2
Find what Text 2 challenges
Does Text 2 challenge the value of stars or the idea of using stars alone? It calls stellar knowledge central but not solitary, and its examples show navigators checking star bearings against swells, seabirds, and clouds. Those other signs became the main guide when clouds hid the stars. Its conclusion, a coordinated set of signals, means the sources worked together. The author would reject exclusive reliance, not the importance of stars, because the evidence shows more than one source of guidance.
Step 3
Check each response’s reason
We can rule out exclusive reliance on a single stable system, which keeps the claim Text 2 challenges, and rejecting any meaningful role for stars, which denies their stated importance. Star patterns changed over time adds a reason Text 2 never gives. The response acknowledging stars as central also names other cues used in concert, meaning used together. That matches a coordinated set of signals rather than any single source, so the choice shows stars working alongside other guides. Choice C.

Lessons that teach this

SAT Reading: Craft and StructureAdvancedCoreText 1 and Text 2: how would one author respond?

Question 158·Medium·Cross-Text Connections

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