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Craft and StructureMediumIdentifying a difference in how two texts treat one property

Craft and Structure practice question

Text 1 Unlike wind and sunlight, tides run on a schedule. The Strathmore tidal station, commissioned in 2021, drives turbines with water forced through a barrage on each incoming and each outgoing tide. Engineers can publish the station's expected output for any hour of any day years in advance. For grid operators accustomed to guessing how hard the wind will blow tomorrow, that certainty makes tidal generation an unusually dependable resource. Text 2 Predictable is not the same as constant. A barrage station like Strathmore produces nothing during the four daily intervals when the water on either side of the barrage sits at the same level, and those idle stretches drift about fifty minutes later each day, wandering in and out of the evening hours when demand is highest. Knowing exactly when the output will vanish is useful; it does not keep the lights on.

Which choice best describes a difference in how the two texts discuss the predictability of tidal power?

  1. A. Text 1 presents the station's known schedule as a reason to consider tidal power dependable, whereas Text 2 argues that a known schedule does not by itself guarantee supply when demand peaks.Correct
  2. B. Text 1 maintains that tidal output can be forecast years ahead, whereas Text 2 maintains that such forecasts are unreliable.
  3. C. Text 1 emphasizes the low cost of tidal generation, whereas Text 2 emphasizes its engineering complexity.
  4. D. Text 1 claims that a barrage station generates power continuously, whereas Text 2 claims that it generates power only twice a day.

Answer: A. Text 1 presents the station's known schedule as a reason to consider tidal power dependable, whereas Text 2 argues that a known schedule does not by itself guarantee supply when demand peaks.

Text 1 treats forecastable output as dependability; Text 2 concedes the forecast ("knowing exactly when the output will vanish") but separates predictability from availability at peak demand. B misreads Text 2 as denying forecastability, which it explicitly accepts. C imports cost and engineering complexity, topics neither text raises. D misstates both texts: Text 1 never says output is continuous, and Text 2 describes four daily idle intervals, not generation only twice a day.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Text 1 maintains that tidal output can be forecast years ahead, whereas Text 2 maintains that such forecasts are unreliable.
Text 2 accepts the forecast: 'Knowing exactly when the output will vanish is useful.' Its point is that a reliable schedule still leaves gaps at peak demand, not that the schedule is wrong.
C. Text 1 emphasizes the low cost of tidal generation, whereas Text 2 emphasizes its engineering complexity.
Neither text mentions cost or engineering complexity. Text 1 is about forecastable output and dependability; Text 2 is about idle intervals drifting into high-demand evening hours.
D. Text 1 claims that a barrage station generates power continuously, whereas Text 2 claims that it generates power only twice a day.
Both halves misstate the texts: Text 1 never claims continuous output, and Text 2 describes four daily idle intervals — which means generation pauses four times a day, not that power is produced only twice.

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