Question 86·Medium·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Business analyst Lisa Gomez argues that employees who work remotely at least three days a week consistently outperform their in-office counterparts. She attributes this boost in productivity to the absence of commutes and the freedom to tailor one’s workspace, concluding that remote work is therefore a universally effective strategy for improving organizational efficiency.
Text 2
Economist Raj Patel cautions that any evaluation of remote work must control for variables such as the quality of an employee’s home office, household distractions, and caregiving duties. Patel notes that studies linking remote work to higher productivity often overlook these factors, making it "premature to claim that working from home in itself guarantees better results for all workers."
Based on the texts, how would Patel (Text 2) most likely respond to Gomez’s (Text 1) conclusion about remote work and productivity?
For cross-text connection questions that ask how one author would respond to another, first underline each author’s main claim and their key reasons. Decide whether the second author would agree, disagree, or partially agree with the first, and why. Then eliminate answer choices that (1) flip that relationship (turn disagreement into agreement), (2) introduce extreme ideas or policies not mentioned, or (3) ignore the specific reasoning given in the text. Choose the option that best captures both the second author’s stance and the logic they use in their own passage.
Hints
Clarify Gomez’s claim
Look back at the end of Text 1. What does Gomez say remote work does for productivity, and how strong or universal is her claim?
Clarify Patel’s concern
In Text 2, focus on the part about controlling for variables like home office quality and distractions. Why does Patel say it is "premature" to make certain claims about remote work?
Compare the two viewpoints
Does Patel simply agree with Gomez, or does he question something about how she reaches her conclusion? Which answer choice reflects that relationship without introducing new, extreme ideas that aren’t in Text 2?
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify Gomez’s main conclusion in Text 1
Gomez claims that employees who work remotely at least three days a week consistently outperform in-office employees. She links this higher productivity to the lack of commuting and the ability to customize one’s workspace, and then concludes that remote work is a universally effective way to improve organizational efficiency. In other words, she treats remote work itself as the main reason for better productivity for everyone.
Identify Patel’s main concern in Text 2
Patel says that to evaluate remote work fairly, we must control for variables such as home office quality, household distractions, and caregiving duties. He notes that many studies connecting remote work to higher productivity overlook these factors. He also calls it "premature to claim that working from home in itself guarantees better results for all workers," which shows he is skeptical of simple, one-cause explanations and universal claims.
Figure out how Patel would react to Gomez’s conclusion
Compare their views: Gomez says remote work is a universally effective strategy and attributes the productivity boost mainly to remote work conditions (no commute, flexible workspace). Patel, however, warns that other factors—like distractions and caregiving—can strongly affect how productive someone is at home, and that it is too soon to say remote work by itself guarantees better results for everyone. So, Patel would likely challenge Gomez’s conclusion as too broad and too focused on remote work alone, without accounting for those other variables.
Match their relationship to the best answer choice
Now test each option against that comparison:
- A says Patel would fully endorse Gomez’s conclusion and call remote work the single most important driver of productivity. That directly contradicts his warning against claiming that working from home in itself guarantees better results.
- B says Patel would claim productivity is impossible to measure reliably. He never says that; he criticizes how studies handle variables, not the measurability of productivity itself.
- D says Patel would insist that companies mandate remote work for everyone. Patel never recommends any policy; he only questions how conclusions about remote work are reached.
- C says he would argue that giving all the credit for higher productivity to remote work ignores other factors that strongly influence performance. This exactly reflects Patel’s focus on controlling for variables and his objection to saying remote work by itself guarantees better results.
Therefore, the correct answer is: He would argue that attributing higher productivity solely to remote work ignores other factors that can strongly influence employee performance.