A question about what two authors agree on tests whether you can find a point both texts support. Start with the question’s wording so you know whose views you’re comparing. Then put each text’s main point in a few words and ask what each text accepts, even where their views differ. Check both texts’ support for every part of a statement, rather than relying on their shared topic. A point supported by only one author isn’t shared agreement.
Hints
- Hint 1
Start with Text 1’s description of Lopez’s work. Summarize what the author says about her so you can test it against Text 2.
- Hint 2
Text 2 ends by naming what the biographers acknowledge. Compare that sentence with Text 1’s opening: what point appears in both?
Step-by-step
Find the point both texts accept
Step 1Read Text 1’s account
Text 1 says Lopez is celebrated for inventing a device that brings safe water to remote villages. Since we need a point both authors accept, what does this text treat as true? It credits Lopez with the invention, while the journalists also judge its place in her career. Let’s check whether Text 2 accepts that credit.
- Step 2
Separate the concern from what Text 2 accepts
What does Text 2 object to? Its biographers say critics focus too narrowly on her popular solar water purifier, so they’re arguing for a broader look at Lopez’s career. They still call the purifier a breakthrough invention that improved public health, so they also credit Lopez with inventing it. They question the narrow focus, not who invented the purifier.
- Step 3
Match the shared point
The statement that Lopez designed a solar-powered water purifier reports the invention itself. Designed means she created its design, which fits the work the texts credit to her, so this gives a point both authors accept. Choice B.