SAT Reading & Writing · Cross-Text Connections
A student claims that doctors should recommend all patients drink coffee daily based on the findings in Text 1. Which text would most…
**Text 1**
Large cohort studies following hundreds of thousands of participants over many years have found that people who report moderate coffee consumption tend to have lower rates of several chronic diseases compared to people who report drinking no coffee at all.
**Text 2**
Researchers reviewing this body of observational research caution that factors such as differences in preparation method, individual caffeine sensitivity, and other lifestyle habits common among coffee drinkers make it difficult to conclude that coffee itself directly causes the lower disease rates observed.
A student claims that doctors should recommend all patients drink coffee daily based on the findings in Text 1. Which text would most directly challenge this claim?
Large cohort studies following hundreds of thousands of participants over many years have found that people who report moderate coffee consumption tend to have lower rates of several chronic diseases compared to people who report drinking no coffee at all.
**Text 2**
Researchers reviewing this body of observational research caution that factors such as differences in preparation method, individual caffeine sensitivity, and other lifestyle habits common among coffee drinkers make it difficult to conclude that coffee itself directly causes the lower disease rates observed.
A student claims that doctors should recommend all patients drink coffee daily based on the findings in Text 1. Which text would most directly challenge this claim?
Answer and explanation
Answer: D: Text 2
Text 2 directly targets the leap the student is making, from an observed association to a confident causal recommendation, by naming several confounding factors that observational data alone cannot rule out. Text 1 simply reports the association itself, which is consistent with the student's enthusiasm instead of a challenge to it. Because the specific caution about recommendations comes from Text 2, treating both texts as equally challenging overstates Text 1's role.
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