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Cross-Text Connections

Craft and Structure · ~28% of Reading & Writing

50+ free practice questions, every answer explained.

SAT Prep  /  Practice  /  Cross-Text Connections

What it tests

Cross-Text Connections gives you Text 1 and Text 2 on the same subject and asks how one author would respond to the other, or how their positions relate. It is the only Reading & Writing question type that requires holding two arguments in mind at once, which is why it is consistently one of the hardest.

How to approach it

Before reading the choices, write each author's claim in your own words in five or six words — "wage rises cut jobs" versus "study found no job loss". Then decide the relationship between those two summaries: agree, disagree, or agree-with-a-qualification. Only then read the choices, and reject any that misstate either author, however well it describes the other.

The mistake that costs the most points

Answering with what Text 2 says instead of how Text 2 bears on Text 1. Half the wrong choices are accurate summaries of one text that have nothing to do with the relationship between them. The right answer always describes both.

What a Cross-Text Connections question looks like

Text 1: Economist Renata Silva argues that tariffs on imported steel protect domestic manufacturing jobs by making foreign steel less price-competitive. Text 2: Economist Louis Bergman contends that tariffs on imported steel raise costs for domestic industries that use steel as a raw material, such as automakers and construction firms, potentially eliminating more jobs downstream than the tariffs protect upstream.

Which choice best describes how Bergman's argument relates to Silva's?

  1. A Bergman identifies a potential broader cost of the policy that Silva's focus on steel manufacturing does not address.
  2. B Bergman argues that tariffs should be expanded to cover more industries.
  3. C Bergman focuses on an entirely unrelated aspect of trade policy.
  4. D Bergman agrees entirely with Silva's assessment of tariffs' benefits.

Answer: A. Silva focuses on benefits to steel manufacturing jobs; Bergman raises a broader downstream cost affecting steel-using industries that Silva's argument doesn't address—a different angle on the same policy, not agreement or an unrelated topic.

Cross-Text Connections drills

50+ questions across 7 drills. Each drill is answered as a set — you see every explanation at once, at the end.

Drills 4–7 continue from the end of drill 3 — each drill links to the next.

Also in Craft and Structure

Vocabulary in context, what a sentence is doing rather than what it says, and how two short texts relate to each other.

Cross-Text Connections FAQ

What does the Cross-Text Connections question type test on the Digital SAT?

Cross-Text Connections gives you Text 1 and Text 2 on the same subject and asks how one author would respond to the other, or how their positions relate. It is the only Reading & Writing question type that requires holding two arguments in mind at once, which is why it is consistently one of the hardest.

How should I approach Cross-Text Connections questions?

Before reading the choices, write each author's claim in your own words in five or six words — "wage rises cut jobs" versus "study found no job loss". Then decide the relationship between those two summaries: agree, disagree, or agree-with-a-qualification. Only then read the choices, and reject any that misstate either author, however well it describes the other.

How many Cross-Text Connections questions are on the SAT?

Cross-Text Connections sits in the Craft and Structure domain, which is ~28% of the Reading & Writing section — roughly 13–15 of its 54 questions. The College Board publishes weights by domain, not by individual skill, so an exact per-skill count is not something anyone can promise you.

Are these real SAT questions?

No. Every question is original, written to the College Board's published Digital SAT Reading & Writing specification. No retired or copyrighted College Board material appears anywhere on this site.

How much free Cross-Text Connections practice is here?

50+ questions across 7 drills, all free, no account needed, every answer explained.