Question 41·Medium·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
A 2021 report by the International Green Building Council concludes that installing extensive green roofs (thin layers of soil supporting low-growing plants) on commercial buildings in temperate cities typically cuts annual heating and cooling energy use by about 30 percent. The report attributes these savings to the roof’s ability to insulate in winter and reduce surface temperatures in summer, and it recommends widespread adoption of extensive green roofs as a cost-effective strategy for lowering urban energy demand.
Text 2
Engineers at Northern Prairie University analyzed twenty office buildings in sub-arctic Canada that had added extensive green roofs. They found no significant change in total energy consumption after installation. The engineers suggest that in climates with long, harsh winters, the thin soil layer of an extensive green roof stores cold rather than heat, increasing the buildings’ heating requirements and offsetting any summer cooling benefits.
Based on the texts, how would the engineers in Text 2 most likely respond to the recommendation made in Text 1?
For cross-text connection questions, first underline the main claim and recommendation in the first text, then identify whether the second text’s evidence would support, limit, or contradict that claim. Pay close attention to conditions like location, time period, or climate that might restrict how broadly a recommendation applies. Finally, eliminate answer choices that introduce new topics (like cost or alternative technologies) that are never mentioned, and select the option that most directly captures how the second text would respond to or qualify the first text’s claim.
Hints
Clarify what is being recommended in Text 1
Reread the last sentence of Text 1. What exactly does the report suggest should happen with extensive green roofs, and how broad is that recommendation?
Focus on the setting and results in Text 2
Look at where the buildings in Text 2 are located and what the engineers found after green roofs were installed. How do the climate and the energy-use results compare with those in Text 1?
Connect the difference between the texts to the answer choices
Ask yourself: If the engineers in Text 2 saw Text 1’s broad recommendation, what criticism could they make based on their data, especially about where green roofs work well and where they don’t?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify Text 1’s main claim and recommendation
Text 1 reports that in temperate cities, installing extensive green roofs on commercial buildings usually cuts annual heating and cooling energy use by about 30 percent. Based on this, the report recommends widespread adoption of extensive green roofs as a cost-effective way to reduce urban energy demand, without limiting the recommendation to any specific climates beyond “temperate cities” in its evidence.
Summarize Text 2’s findings and explanation
Text 2 describes engineers who studied office buildings in sub-arctic Canada that installed extensive green roofs. They found no significant change in total energy use. They explain that in places with long, harsh winters, the thin soil layer stores cold instead of heat, increasing heating needs and canceling out any summer cooling benefits.
Infer how Text 2’s engineers would react to Text 1’s recommendation
Text 1 uses results from temperate cities to justify widespread adoption, implying the approach is generally effective. But Text 2’s engineers have evidence from a much colder climate where the roofs do not reduce energy use. That means they would see Text 1’s recommendation as too broad or overgeneralized, because what worked in the studied temperate cities did not work the same way in their sub-arctic region.
Match this disagreement to the answer choices
We now look for the option that says Text 1’s recommendation is too broad because it doesn’t account for differences between climates. One option states that the recommendation overlooks how the effectiveness of extensive green roofs varies with regional climate—this directly reflects the contrast between temperate cities (Text 1) and sub-arctic Canada (Text 2). The other choices bring up cost, summer performance in temperate regions, or alternative technologies, none of which Text 2 discusses. Therefore, the correct answer is: “By arguing that it overlooks how the effectiveness of extensive green roofs varies with regional climate.”