Source 1: A veteran Panhandle farmer describes how the latest multi-year drought reshaped his work. He switched to drought-tolerant sorghum, installed soil moisture sensors, and left part of his fields fallow to protect the aquifer. He notes that rainfall arrives in short, intense bursts that run off dry ground, so he built berms to slow water and capture it. Even with changes, yields vary widely, and pumping costs rise when groundwater levels drop. He favors voluntary conservation programs that help pay for efficient pivots and drip lines, arguing that farms can save water without ceasing production. Still, he worries that without steady rain and shared planning across sectors, rural communities face tougher seasons ahead. He sees neighbors testing compost to hold moisture.

Source 2: A city water manager from Central Texas explains how drought strains urban systems. Reservoirs drop as inflows shrink, while older pipes leak thousands of gallons each day. The city adopted tiered pricing, rebates for native landscaping, and lawn watering schedules to cut peak demand. Crews now add smart meters and fix the worst leaks first. The manager says brief, heavy storms rush through streets, so the city is building basins and rain gardens to capture runoff for later use. He supports regional planning with farmers and industries because everyone depends on the same rivers and aquifers. He warns that without conservation and infrastructure upgrades, future heat waves could trigger stricter restrictions that affect businesses, parks, and households. Tourism could suffer.

Which conclusion is supported by evidence from both sources?

Source 1: An astrophysicist argues that publicly funded space exploration drives discovery and practical innovation. She notes that missions map cosmic radiation, track solar storms that threaten satellites, and reveal water on distant worlds. The engineering required produces spinoffs: improved imaging sensors, stronger materials, and better navigation. She emphasizes the long timeline of research, saying breakthroughs often appear decades after initial investment. International projects also build alliances and share costs. While acknowledging budget limits, she contends that cutting exploration narrows the pipeline of new ideas. She favors a balanced portfolio that includes human flights for complex tasks and robots for surveying, because each approach answers different questions and creates complementary tools that benefit life on Earth. Students gain from seeing bold goals.

Source 2: A budget analyst cautions that exploration funding must compete with urgent needs like infrastructure and health services. He argues that clear goals and cost controls matter more than pursuing every ambitious idea. Robotic missions, he says, often deliver more science per dollar than human flights, and commercial providers can lower launch costs if agencies set transparent contracts. Promised spinoffs should be verified, not assumed, by tracking patents, startups, and efficiency gains. International partnerships can reduce duplication, but they also add coordination risks that must be managed. The analyst supports exploration when benefits are measurable, timelines are realistic, and maintenance costs are included. In his view, targeted investments beat across-the-board increases that ignore trade-offs and long-term budgets. Priorities should be transparent.

Which synthesis statement best combines information from both sources?

Source 1: A coastal ecologist describes how natural features reduce storm damage along the Texas Gulf. She explains that dunes, marshes, and oyster reefs absorb waves and slow storm surge, protecting roads and homes. After past hurricanes, some communities rebuilt bulkheads, but she notes they can worsen erosion by deflecting energy. Her team installs "living shorelines" that mix plants, reef blocks, and gentle slopes to stabilize banks while supporting fish and birds. With sea level rising, she says towns must plan for higher water by setting buildings back and restoring sediment to sinking marshes. Maintenance matters, too: invasive plants must be removed and new reefs monitored so they grow with changing conditions and provide lasting protection. Local volunteers help plant grasses seasonally.

Source 2: A port authority director emphasizes protecting the navigation system that supports jobs across the region. He says hurricanes can flood terminals, damage cranes, and clog channels with sediment, disrupting energy and grain exports. The port backs levees, surge gates at passes, and regular dredging to keep ships moving safely. He agrees habitat matters, noting that mitigation projects can rebuild marsh near widened channels. However, he argues that purely natural barriers cannot shield critical facilities alone; hard structures anchor evacuation routes and power lines that serve coastal cities. The director supports joint planning with scientists and neighborhoods so designs consider tides, wildlife, shipping, and property access. He stresses funding reliability because piecemeal repairs raise long-term costs. Delays can ripple statewide economically.

Which conclusion is supported by evidence from both sources?

Source 1: A sleep researcher summarizes evidence that adolescents need about nine hours of nightly sleep, yet many get far less when schools start very early. Biological shifts delay teens' natural sleep rhythm, making it hard to fall asleep before late evening. Studies link insufficient sleep to lower grades, higher accident risk, and more anxiety. Districts that delayed first bell times by roughly an hour saw better attendance, later bedtimes only slightly, and improved alertness. The researcher recommends protecting consistent bed and wake schedules, dimming screens at night, and aligning school timetables with adolescent biology. She notes that later starts are not a cure-all, but they remove a major barrier that individual willpower cannot easily overcome. Families still need healthy routines daily.

Source 2: A middle school principal describes practical hurdles in changing schedules. Bus routes are shared across grade levels, so moving one start time shifts others. Many students join clubs, sports, or work shifts that require late afternoons, and practice fields have limited light. In a short pilot, the school delayed by thirty minutes. Tardiness dropped, teachers reported calmer first periods, and nurses handled fewer headaches before lunch. However, some families struggled with later pickups, and regional competitions began before students could arrive. The principal favors exploring a districtwide, staged delay with coordinated transportation and activity schedules. He says community planning and clear communication are essential so the academic benefits are not undercut by avoidable conflicts. Costs must be studied openly too.

Which synthesis statement best combines information from both sources?

Source 1: A Hill Country ranchers' cooperative reports that the spring-fed creeks they rely on ran at a trickle last summer. Several ranches drilled deeper wells, but the cost pushed some families to share water and adopt voluntary schedules for filling stock tanks. The cooperative encourages brush management to reduce water loss and has hosted workshops on rainwater capture for barns and houses. While ranchers value independence, they say drought is a shared problem: when the groundwater drops, everyone's pumps strain. They want county leaders to coordinate conservation messaging with nearby towns so that rural cutbacks aren't undone by heavy urban lawn watering. Their newsletter urges neighbors to plan ahead for another dry year instead of waiting for emergency restrictions.

Source 2: A hydrologist studying the Edwards Aquifer notes that most recharge comes from brief, intense storms flowing across rocky outcrops. During multiyear droughts, recharge plunges while municipal demand rises, especially in fast-growing suburbs. Stream gauges show that when lawn irrigation is high, spring flow declines sooner, affecting wildlife and downstream users. The researcher emphasizes that small household actions scale up: fixing leaks, watering before sunrise, and replacing turf can save millions of gallons citywide. However, conservation must be regional. Pumping limits in one district are less effective if neighboring areas continue business as usual, because the aquifer is connected underground. The study concludes that cities and rural users should plan together for drought, blending efficiency programs with clear, enforceable goals.

Which conclusion is supported by evidence from both sources?

Source 1: An economic analysis of Gulf Coast restoration projects in Texas found that rebuilding marshes and dune systems supports local jobs across several sectors. Crews move sediment, plant native grasses, and build oyster-reef breakwaters, employing contractors during design and construction. After projects are finished, guides and tackle shops report steadier business as fish and shrimp rebound. Property insurers cite lower risk near restored shorelines, and ports value reduced downtime when channels silt less. The report stresses that every dollar invested can return more through avoided damage and tourism stability. It cautions that one-time seawalls may protect a block but don't boost fisheries or recreation. In contrast, natural features can grow with sediments and continue delivering benefits over time.

Source 2: A coastal scientist explains that wetlands, reefs, and dunes act as flexible barriers. During Hurricane Harvey, sites with wide marsh platforms and living shorelines experienced smaller waves and slower erosion than hardened edges nearby. Monitor stations showed that oyster reefs forced waves to break earlier, protecting marsh roots behind them. These habitats also host juvenile fish, crabs, and birds, which depend on calm, shallow water. The scientist argues that combining engineered elements with nature—placing breakwaters, planting marsh, and allowing sand to move—works better than rigid structures alone. Long-term success requires maintenance and community involvement, like volunteer plantings and monitoring. The goal is not to stop storms but to reduce damage while supporting a thriving coastal ecosystem.

Which synthesis statement best combines information from both sources?

Source 1: A review of 50 middle school studies found a modest link between homework and achievement, especially when assignments were short, frequent, and directly connected to class objectives. Gains leveled off when nightly workload exceeded about an hour, as accuracy dropped and stress increased. The researchers note that practice is most effective soon after instruction, when students can recall steps and commit them to memory. They recommend setting clear purposes for each task and avoiding busywork that repeats mastered skills. Importantly, students benefited when teachers checked for understanding the next day and used results to adjust lessons. The review concludes that thoughtful amounts of homework can reinforce learning, but heavy quantities alone do not guarantee better outcomes.

Source 2: A survey of students and families at a diverse middle school describes how assignment design shapes effort. Many students with after-school jobs or care duties said they could complete focused tasks in 20–30 minutes but gave up on long packets. Others valued choice boards that let them pick problems that matched their readiness. Quick teacher feedback—like a brief conference or annotated sample—helped them correct mistakes before habits formed. Parents appreciated calendars that avoided stacking big deadlines. The report warns that assigning more problems without guidance leads to confusion and copying. It urges schools to prioritize quality: clear goals, limited length, and timely support so homework extends learning instead of becoming a barrier at home.

Which synthesis statement best combines information from both sources?

Source 1: In a 1930s letter from a southern Plains farmer, the writer describes dust piling against the fence like snow, cattle coughing, and wheat seedlings scoured out by wind. He thanks church drives for food boxes and says a federal seed loan kept the team fed until a small harvest came in. A crew helped replant windbreaks along the lane, but he worries they will die if another dry spring arrives. Several neighbors have packed for California, while others stay and mend. The farmer argues that emergency aid matters most when storms hit—hay for stock, credit extensions, and hands to clear drifts from roads—so families can last long enough to try again when rain finally returns.

Source 2: A conservation bulletin from the era explains why the soil blew: deep plowing removed protective grasses, exposing loose topsoil to drought and wind. Demonstration farms showed that contour plowing, leaving crop residue, rotating to cover crops, and planting shelterbelts reduced erosion dramatically. Field data recorded fewer "black blizzards" where practices were adopted together. The bulletin stresses that progress took seasons, not days, and required coordination beyond a single farm because wind crosses fence lines. It praises local districts that shared equipment and agreed on planting dates to keep soil anchored. The message is patient but firm: relief can steady a community during hard months, but only long-term conservation changes prevent the same disaster from repeating.

Which conclusion is supported by evidence from both sources?