What you'll learn
On the GED RLA test you will often read two texts on the same topic: two letters that disagree, an essay and a news article, or an article with a graph. The questions ask how the texts relate. You will learn to:
- figure out each text's position, purpose, and point of view,
- identify where the texts agree, disagree, or add to each other,
- compare their evidence, tone, and structure,
- check a text's claims against a graph or table, and
- synthesize: combine both texts to draw a conclusion neither text states alone.
How it shows up on the GED: Paired passages appear regularly, usually with several questions each, and the Extended Response essay is built on a pair. Typical questions:
- "On which point do the two authors agree?"
- "How does the author of Text 2 respond to the evidence in Text 1?"
- "Based on the graph, which claim in the article is supported?"
Key terms
- paired passages — two texts on one topic (a nurse and a bus director on school start times).
- position — the stand an author takes (for a later start).
- purpose — why the author wrote: persuade, inform, explain, entertain, reflect (a press release promotes).
- point of view — the perspective an author writes from, often shaped by his or her role (restaurant owner vs. inspector).
- tone — the author's attitude (neutral, hopeful, reflective, sarcastic).
- structure — how a text is organized (problem-solution, chronological, story frame).
- concession — a point an author grants to the other side ("No one disputes that teens need sleep.").
- corroborate — to support or confirm (a graph that shows the same rise the article describes).
- contradict — to say the opposite (one text says costs rose; the other says they fell).
- qualify — to agree partly but add limits ("It worked there, but it may not work here.").
- complement — to add different but compatible information (a personal story plus statistics on the same trend).
- synthesis — combining sources to reach a new conclusion (the article's claim plus the graph shows the claim is exaggerated).
- graphic — a chart, graph, table, map, or diagram.
1. Reading a pair: three questions
Before comparing details, answer three questions.
- What is the shared topic? (School start times.)
- What does each text say about it? Write one short phrase for each: T1: start later for teen health. T2: costs too high; study first.
- How do the texts relate?
| Relationship | What it looks like | Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Agree | Same position, maybe different evidence | Both call for the same action |
| Disagree | Opposite positions | However, but, critics are wrong |
| Qualify | Partly agree, with limits | That may be true, but… |
| Complement | Different angles on the same issue | Story + data, history + present day |
| Respond | Text 2 directly answers a point in Text 1 | Text 2 mentions Text 1's example |
Authors who disagree about a solution often agree about the problem. Look for concessions (No one disputes, It is true that, Admittedly).
Two ways to challenge evidence: say it is wrong, or say it is correct but does not apply because the situations differ. The GED tests whether you can tell these apart.
2. Comparing arguments and evidence
Compare what kind of evidence each text uses and how strong it is, using the same skills you use on one argument.
| Compare | Ask |
|---|---|
| Claim | What does each author want? Are the claims opposite, or just different? |
| Evidence type | Statistics? Expert opinion? Personal story? Examples from elsewhere? |
| Evidence quality | Which is more relevant, sufficient, and credible? |
| Counterclaims | Does either author address the other side? How well? |
Point of view shapes evidence. A nurse writes about health; a transportation director writes about buses and budgets. Each sees part of the picture.
Same fact, different meaning. A health director says a B grade costs a restaurant business, so grades work. An owner says a B cost her business, so unfair grades hurt. They agree on the fact and disagree on what it means.
Better supported? Judge the evidence, not your opinion. Neutral data usually beats an anecdote, but data can be weakened by another cause or a cherry-picked month.
3. Comparing purpose, tone, and structure
Paired texts are often in different genres, such as a personal essay and a news report.
Purpose: a press release promotes, a news article informs, a personal essay often reflects.
Tone: use precise words; avoid extremes unless the text truly is extreme.
| Often correct | Often traps |
|---|---|
| reflective, neutral, concerned, hopeful, critical, informative, cautious | furious, hostile, ecstatic, hysterical, bitter |
Structure: look at how each text begins and ends.
| Structure | How to spot it |
|---|---|
| Story frame | Opens and closes with the same person or image |
| General to specific | Starts with a trend, then gives data and examples |
| Problem-solution | Describes a problem, then proposes a fix |
| Chronological | Events in time order (first, then, last spring) |
| Claim-evidence | States a position, then supports it point by point |
Example: A cashier's essay that opens and closes with one customer uses a story frame to raise a question; an article moving from a trend to survey data informs. Same topic, different structure and purpose.
4. Text plus graphic
When a text comes with a graph or table, treat the graphic as a second source.
Read the graphic first, in this order:
- Title: what is being measured?
- Axes and labels: units (people, dollars, percent) and time periods.
- Key or markers: colors, dashed lines, notes such as "program begins."
- Pattern: up, down, flat, peak, dip.
Then test each claim:
- Supported: the data show it. ("More riders after the program began", if every later bar is taller.)
- Contradicted: the data show the opposite.
- Overstated: true only for a hand-picked point. ("Up 40 percent" when only the best month reached 40 percent.)
- Not addressed: the graphic does not measure it. (A ridership graph says nothing about car traffic.)
Quick percent check (no calculator needed): To test "more than 40 percent higher than 8,300," find 10 percent (830), multiply by 4 (3,320), and add it on (11,620). Any month below 11,620 does not reach 40 percent.
Watch for other explanations, such as a college semester starting in the month of a spike.
5. Synthesis: combining two sources
The hardest paired-text questions ask you to combine information.
"Which statement would both authors agree with?"
- Find support in both texts. If one author argues against it or never mentions it, reject it. Silence is not agreement.
"How would the author of Text 2 respond?" Predict from Text 2's position and evidence, not your opinion.
"What conclusion do both sources support?" Choose one that needs both pieces.
Mini example: Text A, written by a farmer, says that a dry spring hurt the corn crop. Text B, a chart, shows that corn prices rose 18 percent that summer. Synthesis: a smaller harvest may help explain the higher prices. Neither source says this alone, and neither proves it, so prefer "may help explain" over "proves."
Worked example 1: Agreement between opponents
Text 1 (city planner): Downtown needs more parking. Shoppers circle for ten minutes looking for a space, and many give up and shop online. The city should build a 300-space garage on Fifth Street.
Text 2 (bike shop owner): Yes, finding parking downtown is frustrating. But a garage would cost $9 million and invite even more traffic. Better bus service and bike lanes would bring shoppers without the gridlock.
Question: On which point do the two authors agree? A. The city should build a garage on Fifth Street. B. Parking downtown is currently a problem. C. Bike lanes would bring more shoppers downtown. D. A garage would cost $9 million.
Think-aloud:
- T1 wants a garage; T2 wants buses and bike lanes.
- T2's concession, "Yes, finding parking downtown is frustrating," matches T1's complaint.
- A is only T1; C and D are only T2.
Answer: B.
Worked example 2: How one text responds to another
Text 1: Westfield's four-day school week saved the district $400,000 in its first year. Other rural districts should copy it.
Text 2: Westfield's savings are real. But Westfield has a large community center that runs free programs on Fridays. In towns without such a center, working parents would have to pay for a fifth day of child care, which could wipe out any savings for families.
Question: How does Text 2 respond to the evidence in Text 1? A. It argues that Westfield's savings figure is false. B. It accepts the savings but argues that Westfield's situation may not apply elsewhere. C. It agrees that every rural district should adopt a four-day week. D. It ignores Text 1's evidence entirely.
Think-aloud:
- "Westfield's savings are real" accepts the evidence, so A and D are out.
- "But Westfield has a large community center…" points to a difference, so Text 2 qualifies the claim. C contradicts its warning.
Answer: B.
Worked example 3: Text plus table
Article: "Since the city added bike lanes on Grand Avenue in March, cycling on the street has soared, and accidents have fallen."
| Month | Cyclists per day | Bike accidents |
|---|---|---|
| January | 120 | 3 |
| February | 130 | 2 |
| March (lanes added) | 210 | 3 |
| April | 260 | 3 |
| May | 300 | 4 |
Question: Which statement best evaluates the article using the table? A. Both claims are supported by the table. B. The table supports the claim about more cyclists but not the claim about fewer accidents. C. The table contradicts the claim about more cyclists. D. The table does not include any data from before the lanes were added.
Think-aloud:
- Cyclists: 120 and 130 before, then 210, 260, 300. First claim supported.
- Accidents: 3 and 2 before; 3, 3, 4 after. They did not fall. Second claim not supported.
- A and C misread the data; D is false (January and February come before March).
Answer: B. Test each claim separately; a text can be half right.
Worked example 4: Tone and purpose in different genres
Text 1 (memoir): The mill whistle used to wake our whole street. When it went silent in 1987, my father sat on the porch every morning anyway, as if waiting for it.
Text 2 (history article): Between 1970 and 1990, the region lost more than half of its textile jobs as companies moved production to areas with lower labor costs.
Question: Which statement best compares the two texts? A. Text 1 is a personal reflection on loss, while Text 2 gives an objective overview of the same economic change. B. Text 1 argues that mills should reopen, while Text 2 argues that they should stay closed. C. Both texts use statistics to persuade readers. D. Text 2 is personal and emotional, while Text 1 is factual.
Think-aloud:
- Text 1 is first person, built on an image, and makes no argument: reflective and sad.
- Text 2 uses dates and a statistic in neutral language to inform.
- B invents arguments, C fails (Text 1 has no statistics), and D reverses the texts.
Answer: A. The texts complement each other.
Common traps and how to avoid them
- Reversing the texts. Wrong: choosing "Text 1 focuses on cost" when that was Text 2. Right: Keep a one-phrase label for each text and check every choice against it.
- Treating silence as agreement. Wrong: "Text 1 doesn't object to re-inspections, so its author would agree." Right: "Both would agree" needs support from both texts.
- Confusing "wrong" with "doesn't apply." Wrong: "Text 2 says Westfield's savings are false." Right: Text 2 accepts the savings but says Westfield is different.
- Choosing extreme tone words. Wrong: "hostile" for an author who is sad about a change. Right: reflective or concerned is not angry.
- Trusting a text's number over the graphic. Wrong: "The article says 40 percent, so it's true." Right: Check the graphic: which month, compared with what?
- Accepting claims the graphic does not measure. Wrong: "More bus riders, so less car traffic." Right: A ridership graph cannot support a traffic claim.
GED test-day strategy
- Read the questions first so you know whether to focus on agreement, evidence, tone, or a graphic.
- After each text, pause and label its position and purpose in one phrase.
- Look for concessions and direct responses. Phrases like No one disputes or Text 2 naming Text 1's example are where many questions come from.
- For "both" questions, prove each answer in each text. If you cannot point to a line in both, eliminate it.
- For graphics, read the title, axes, and markers before the article's claims. Then test each claim: supported, contradicted, overstated, or not addressed.
- Estimate percents with the 10 percent trick.
- Watch absolute words (proves, only, every, never).
- Budget time: about 4 to 5 minutes to read the pair, then return only to the paragraph each question names.
Check yourself
Should Lakeview High School Start Later?
Text 1 — Let Teens Sleep
By Carla Mendez, a fictional school nurse at Lakeview High School
(1) Every morning, I see the same thing in my office: students with headaches, students who can barely keep their eyes open, students who skipped breakfast to catch a 6:40 a.m. bus. Lakeview High School starts at 7:15 a.m. That is simply too early.
(2) Teenagers are not lazy. During the teen years, the body's internal clock shifts, so most teens do not feel sleepy until about 11 p.m. A teen who falls asleep at 11 and wakes at 6 gets only seven hours of sleep, less than the eight to ten hours that doctors recommend for this age group.
(3) Nearby Cedar Falls moved its high school start time from 7:30 to 8:30 two years ago. Since then, the district reports that first-period tardiness has dropped by a third and attendance has risen. Our students deserve the same chance.
(4) The school board should move Lakeview's start time one hour later, to 8:15 a.m., beginning next fall.
Text 2 — The Hidden Costs of a Later Bell
By Tom Kessler, a fictional transportation director for Lakeview Schools
(1) No one disputes that teenagers need more sleep. But moving the high school start time is not as simple as changing a number on a schedule.
(2) Lakeview uses the same 42 buses for its high school, middle school, and elementary schools. The high school route runs first. If the high school starts an hour later, either the elementary schools must start earlier, putting young children at bus stops in the dark, or the district must buy and staff more buses. Our estimate for 14 additional buses and drivers is about $1.2 million a year.
(3) A later start also means a later end. Students would leave at 3:45 instead of 2:45, cutting into after-school jobs that many families rely on and pushing sports practices past sunset in winter.
(4) Cedar Falls is often held up as a model, but it is a district of 1,800 students with a separate bus fleet for each school. What worked there may not work here. Before the board votes, it should study how a change would affect every family in the district, not just high school students.
On which point do the authors of Text 1 and Text 2 agree?
Hint
Text 2 opens by admitting something. Check whether Text 1 says the same thing.
Step-by-step solution
Where the answer comes from: Text 2, paragraph 1, begins: "No one disputes that teenagers need more sleep." Text 1, paragraph 2, makes the same point: teens get "less than the eight to ten hours that doctors recommend for this age group."
Step by step:
- Find each author's position. Text 1 wants a later start. Text 2 warns about the costs and wants more study first.
- Look for a concession, a point one author grants to the other side. Text 2's first sentence is a concession: Kessler accepts that teens need more sleep.
- Check the other choices against both texts:
- B is only Text 1's proposal. Text 2 does not support it yet.
- C is the opposite of Text 2, which says "What worked there may not work here."
- D is only Text 2's point. Text 1 never mentions buses.
Correct answer: A. Teenagers need more sleep than many of them now get.
Tip: Authors who disagree about a solution often agree about the problem. Look for concession phrases like No one disputes, It is true that, and Admittedly.
Check yourself
Should Lakeview High School Start Later?
Text 1 — Let Teens Sleep
By Carla Mendez, a fictional school nurse at Lakeview High School
(1) Every morning, I see the same thing in my office: students with headaches, students who can barely keep their eyes open, students who skipped breakfast to catch a 6:40 a.m. bus. Lakeview High School starts at 7:15 a.m. That is simply too early.
(2) Teenagers are not lazy. During the teen years, the body's internal clock shifts, so most teens do not feel sleepy until about 11 p.m. A teen who falls asleep at 11 and wakes at 6 gets only seven hours of sleep, less than the eight to ten hours that doctors recommend for this age group.
(3) Nearby Cedar Falls moved its high school start time from 7:30 to 8:30 two years ago. Since then, the district reports that first-period tardiness has dropped by a third and attendance has risen. Our students deserve the same chance.
(4) The school board should move Lakeview's start time one hour later, to 8:15 a.m., beginning next fall.
Text 2 — The Hidden Costs of a Later Bell
By Tom Kessler, a fictional transportation director for Lakeview Schools
(1) No one disputes that teenagers need more sleep. But moving the high school start time is not as simple as changing a number on a schedule.
(2) Lakeview uses the same 42 buses for its high school, middle school, and elementary schools. The high school route runs first. If the high school starts an hour later, either the elementary schools must start earlier, putting young children at bus stops in the dark, or the district must buy and staff more buses. Our estimate for 14 additional buses and drivers is about $1.2 million a year.
(3) A later start also means a later end. Students would leave at 3:45 instead of 2:45, cutting into after-school jobs that many families rely on and pushing sports practices past sunset in winter.
(4) Cedar Falls is often held up as a model, but it is a district of 1,800 students with a separate bus fleet for each school. What worked there may not work here. Before the board votes, it should study how a change would affect every family in the district, not just high school students.
Drag each statement to show which text it describes. One statement describes neither text and will not be used.
| Text 1 only | Text 2 only | Both texts |
|---|---|---|
Tap a tile, then tap a box to place it.
Hint
Check each statement against Text 1 first, then against Text 2. A statement belongs in "Both" only if you can find it in each text.
Step-by-step solution
Where the answer comes from:
- Text 1 only: "Explains how a teenager's internal clock shifts." Text 1, paragraph 2: "the body's internal clock shifts, so most teens do not feel sleepy until about 11 p.m." Text 2 never explains the biology.
- Text 2 only: "Gives a yearly cost estimate for extra buses and drivers." Text 2, paragraph 2: "Our estimate for 14 additional buses and drivers is about $1.2 million a year." Text 1 gives no costs.
- Both texts: "Mentions the Cedar Falls school district." Text 1 (paragraph 3) uses Cedar Falls as evidence for a later start. Text 2 (paragraph 4) argues that Cedar Falls is different from Lakeview. They use the example in opposite ways, but both mention it.
- Not used: "Reports the results of a survey of Lakeview parents." Neither text mentions any survey.
Tip: When comparing texts, a quick two-column note (T1 / T2) as you read makes these questions fast. Remember that two authors can use the same example for opposite purposes.
Summary
- For any pair, identify the shared topic, each text's position and purpose, and their relationship (agree, disagree, qualify, complement, respond).
- Compare evidence (type and strength), tone (precise, not extreme), and structure (how each text begins and ends).
- Authors who disagree often share a concession, and they may accept the same fact but interpret it differently.
- For text plus graphic, read the graphic's title and axes first, then label each claim as supported, contradicted, overstated, or not addressed.
- Synthesis answers need both sources, and silence is not agreement.
- Keep one-phrase labels for each text so you never mix them up.