Question 94·Easy·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1
Spanish painters in the 1800s seldom highlighted industrial subjects. In the city of Valencia, the first painting to put a factory smokestack at the composition's center was Mateo Ríos's "Grey Morning" (1864). Other Valencian works of the time, when they included industry, relegated it to the background.
Text 2
In most mid-century Valencian landscapes, industrial features were kept at the edges of the scene. However, Clara Noguera's 1859 painting, Foundry at Dawn, is an early exception: a tall smokestack rises from the middle of the canvas, bisecting the sky.
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 that ask how one author would respond to a claim in another text, first underline the key parts of the claim (especially words like "first," dates, or strong generalizations). Then scan the second text for any information about the same people, dates, or ideas and decide whether it supports, contradicts, or qualifies the original claim. Finally, eliminate choices that bring in new, unsupported details (like fame, motivations, or audience reactions) and pick the one that most directly reflects the relationship you found between the two texts.
Hints
Clarify the claim in Text 1
Look closely at the underlined sentence in Text 1. What does it say about Ríos’s painting being the first to do something with a factory smokestack?
Locate the parallel idea in Text 2
In Text 2, find the sentence that talks about Clara Noguera's painting. What does it say about the date of that painting and how the smokestack is positioned?
Compare dates and positions
When you compare the years of the two paintings and how each one uses a smokestack in the composition, would the author of Text 2 agree that Ríos’s 1864 painting was the first to center a smokestack? Choose the option that best reflects that comparison.
Step-by-step Explanation
Identify the exact claim in Text 1
Focus on the underlined sentence in Text 1: it says that the first painting to put a factory smokestack at the center of the composition was Mateo Ríos's "Grey Morning" (1864). That means Text 1 is making a strong claim about being first (earliest in time) and about where the smokestack appears (at the center).
Find related information in Text 2
Now look in Text 2 for any painting that matches this same idea: a factory smokestack placed in the middle of the picture. Text 2 describes Clara Noguera's painting Foundry at Dawn and tells you both when it was painted and where the smokestack is placed in the scene.
Compare the years and the composition details
Compare the painting dates: Ríos's "Grey Morning" in Text 1 is from 1864. In Text 2, Noguera's Foundry at Dawn is from 1859. Also note that Text 2 explicitly says that in Noguera's painting, a tall smokestack rises from the middle of the canvas. So Text 2 gives an example of a centered smokestack that appears earlier than 1864.
Decide how Text 2’s author would respond and match to an option
Because Text 2 describes a 1859 painting that already centers a smokestack, its author would disagree with Text 1’s claim that the first such painting was Ríos’s 1864 work. The best answer is: A) Foundry at Dawn was completed earlier than "Grey Morning" and also centers a factory smokestack.