Compare two writers’ claims precisely. SAT paired-text questions ask about agreement, disagreement, or how one writer would respond to a particular claim in the other text.
Key Rules
Write each text’s central claim in one short sentence.
Identify the exact point of agreement or conflict; sharing a topic does not mean sharing a conclusion.
For a hypothetical response, use the responding author’s stated evidence and level of certainty.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Answering from your own opinion about the topic.
Treating criticism of one explanation as rejection of every possible explanation.
SAT Strategy Tips
→Label Text 1 and Text 2 in your notes so the viewpoints do not switch.
→Check that the answer addresses the named claim, not a different part of the second passage.
Example Question
Text 1 argues that a bird species migrates mainly in response to temperature. Text 2 reports migration on the same date across years with very different temperatures and proposes day length as the main cue. How would Text 2 respond to Text 1?
Ready to practice?
Apply what you learned with real SAT questions on this topic.