Compare connected texts claim by claim
Locate the precise agreement or disagreement between two texts before describing how one would respond to the other.
What you will tackle
- Compare related claims, evidence and interpretations
- Predict one author's reasoned response to a specified claim
- Distinguish agreement on observations from disagreement on explanations
Separate observation and explanation
Two authors can accept the same measurement but disagree about its cause. Identify each claim's scope and degree of certainty. Do not turn a limited objection into total rejection of the other text.
Use both texts in the justification
A cross-text answer needs a relationship supported by both passages. Quote or paraphrase the point at issue and explain what the second text adds, challenges or qualifies. Shared topic alone does not establish agreement.
Build your notes, then practise
Work on paper before opening an explanation. Guided tasks provide a starting point; independent tasks remove the scaffolding; application tasks ask you to justify a method or interpretation in context.
Guided practice
Guided 1
Text 1: ‘Recorded imports rose after the harbour expansion, showing that total trade increased.’ Text 2: ‘The records began including small coastal vessels that earlier officials omitted.’ How would Text 2 most directly qualify Text 1?
Show a starting hint
Distinguish the measured record from the underlying activity.
Compare with the explained answer
- Text 1 moves from recorded totals to actual total trade.
- Text 2 introduces a change in recording coverage.
- The rise may partly reflect improved recording, without proving no real trade increase occurred.
Answer / response criteria: It offers an alternative explanation for part of the recorded increase.
Independent practice
Independent 1
Text 1 says a poem's repeated pauses convey fear. Text 2 agrees that the pauses interrupt movement but argues they also create opportunities for reflection. State their agreement and difference.
Compare with the explained answer
- Both texts identify interruption caused by the pauses.
- They assign different or additional effects to that interruption.
- Text 2 expands the interpretation rather than denying that pauses exist.
Answer / response criteria: They agree about interrupted movement; Text 2 adds reflection to Text 1's fear-focused interpretation.
Application practice
Application 1
Write a balanced synthesis: one study finds lower traffic after a street closure; another reports higher traffic in neighbouring streets. Identify a common finding, a limitation and a further measurement.
Compare with the explained answer
- Traffic patterns changed after the closure, with decreases and increases in different places.
- The first study alone does not establish a network-wide reduction.
- Measure total traffic across a defined surrounding area and comparable periods.
Answer / response criteria: Traffic was lower locally after the closure but higher in neighbouring streets; network-wide totals and a suitable comparison are needed to assess an overall change and its cause.
What can you explain now?
Write a balanced synthesis: one study finds lower traffic after a street closure; another reports higher traffic in neighbouring streets. Identify a common finding, a limitation and a further measurement.
Compare with the explanation
Traffic was lower locally after the closure but higher in neighbouring streets; network-wide totals and a suitable comparison are needed to assess an overall change and its cause.
Explain the reasoning before comparing. This review records your self-assessment rather than an official score or mastery decision.
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Source and review status
Coverage follows the named requirements and examples in the 2026–2027 ACT test guide and subject descriptions. That guide explicitly does not list every possible topic. The broader coded College and Career Readiness Standards are also mapped to conceptual teaching and practice; this does not calibrate a learner to a score band. The separate scientific-background context list and reading-complexity rubric have their own stated limits.
Original teaching and explained self-check practice are available. Specialist review and difficulty calibration remain pending. Essays require self-check or teacher review and are not automatically marked or awarded official scores.
Official source specification / guide