Question 65·Medium·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
A recent report by the Midvale City Council notes that residential rooftops collectively receive enough sunlight to generate all of the electricity the city currently consumes. If a municipal rebate program persuaded just half of homeowners to install solar panels, Midvale could swiftly achieve its ambitious goal of becoming carbon-neutral within the decade.
Text 2
The city’s rooftop-solar proposal is encouraging, but its projected impact is overstated. Rooftop systems typically produce electricity at roughly twice the cost per kilowatt-hour of large solar farms and are far less efficient during cloudy winter months, when Midvale’s energy demand peaks. Studies show that pairing a utility-scale solar farm outside the city with a small battery-storage facility would displace considerably more fossil-fuel generation than the rooftop plan—at a lower overall cost to residents.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the underlined claim in Text 1?
For cross-text questions asking how one author would respond to another, first restate in your own words the specific claim or idea in the referenced text (here, the underlined claim in Text 1). Then, read the relevant parts of the second text looking for agreement or disagreement and, most importantly, the reasons given (cost, efficiency, timing, etc.). Finally, eliminate answer choices that introduce ideas the second text never mentions, and choose the one that best captures the attitude and reasoning the second author actually expresses.
Hints
Clarify what the claim in Text 1 is saying
Focus on the underlined part in Text 1: what outcome does it say Midvale can reach, and how quickly, just by getting half of homeowners to install rooftop solar?
Check how Text 2 views that outcome
Look at the first two sentences of Text 2. Does the author fully agree with that optimistic outcome, or suggest that it’s unrealistic? What words show this?
Look for the main reasons in Text 2
Text 2 lists specific problems or limitations with rooftop solar in Midvale. Pay special attention to anything about when energy is needed and how rooftop systems perform at that time.
Eliminate answer choices that introduce new ideas
Cross out any options that mention points Text 2 never brings up, like delaying the plan, homeowners’ ability to afford technology, or problems with battery-storage development.
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the underlined claim in Text 1
The underlined claim says that if half of Midvale’s homeowners install rooftop solar panels, the city could quickly become carbon-neutral within ten years. So Text 1 is very optimistic: it suggests rooftop solar alone is enough to meet the city’s needs and eliminate net carbon emissions on a fast timeline.
Identify Text 2’s attitude toward the rooftop plan
Text 2 starts by calling the proposal “encouraging” but immediately says “its projected impact is overstated.” That means the author thinks the claim in Text 1 promises more than rooftop solar can realistically deliver.
Find the specific reasons Text 2 gives
Text 2 explains why the impact is overstated:
- Rooftop systems produce electricity at about twice the cost per kilowatt-hour of large solar farms.
- They are “far less efficient during cloudy winter months, when Midvale’s energy demand peaks.”
- Studies show that a utility-scale solar farm plus a small battery-storage facility would displace more fossil-fuel generation at lower overall cost than the rooftop plan.
Notice that the seasonal inefficiency in winter, when demand is highest, directly challenges the idea that rooftop solar can fully meet the city’s energy needs and achieve carbon-neutrality as claimed in Text 1.
Match Text 2’s critique to the answer choice
The correct answer must say that the author of Text 2 would respond by arguing that the optimistic claim in Text 1 ignores important limits of rooftop solar, especially in high-demand winter months. Among the choices, only “By arguing that the claim overlooks seasonal limitations that would prevent rooftop solar from fully meeting the city’s energy needs” clearly matches this reasoning, so that is the correct answer.