Free SAT Practice Question

Question 1 of 1
ID: SAT-RW-CS-019
Section: SAT Reading & Writing (RW) – Craft and Structure
Topic: Cross-Text Connections
Difficulty level: Hard

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Text 1

Students remember a lecture better when they take notes by hand than when they type them. The reason, many instructors argue, is speed: a keyboard is fast enough to transcribe a talk almost word for word, while a pen is not, so writing by hand forces students to condense and rephrase as they go. That extra mental work is what fixes the material in memory. The lesson drawn is straightforward — put the laptops away and hand out paper.

Text 2

Adaeze Okonkwo's team ran a larger version of these comparisons with one change: some of the typists were told to write their notes in their own words rather than verbatim. Those typists remembered as much as the handwriting group. Okonkwo concludes that what helps memory is the act of summarizing in one's own words, not the tool used to do it. A pen tends to force that summarizing; a keyboard merely allows people to skip it.

Based on the texts, how would Okonkwo (Text 2) most likely respond to the conclusion drawn in Text 1?

ABy presenting further evidence confirming that handwritten notes produce deeper learning than typed notes. On this reading Text 2 simply supplies a bigger, more careful study that lands in the same place Text 1 did, reinforcing rather than unsettling its advice.

BBy proposing that the advantage Text 1 attributes to handwriting really comes from summarizing in one's own words, which students can do while typing too.

CBy agreeing with Text 1's own claim that summarizing, not the writing medium, is what drives better recall.

DBy maintaining that handwriting improves learning only for students who already read well.

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