10 original Command of Evidence: Quantitative questions, easiest first. Read a table or graph and pick the choice the data actually supports. Answer them all, then submit once to see every answer explained.
A hospital compared average patient wait times in its emergency department before and after implementing a new triage software system:
| Before system (avg.) | 94 minutes |
|---|---|
| After system (avg.) | 61 minutes |
| Average patient satisfaction score before | 3.2/5 |
|---|---|
| Average patient satisfaction score after | 3.4/5 |
A hospital administrator claims that the new triage system substantially reduced wait times and substantially improved patient satisfaction.
Does the data support the administrator's claim?
B — No, because although wait times dropped substantially, satisfaction improved only slightly.. Wait times dropped substantially (94 to 61 minutes), but satisfaction rose only slightly (3.2 to 3.4)—so while wait times improved substantially, satisfaction did not improve to the same degree, contradicting the claim that both improved substantially.
A streaming service tracked the percentage of new subscribers who remained subscribed after six months, broken down by how many different shows they watched in their first month:
| 1–2 shows | 24% retained |
|---|---|
| 3–5 shows | 49% retained |
| 6–9 shows | 68% retained |
| 10+ shows | 81% retained |
Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?
B — Retention rate generally increases as the number of shows watched in the first month increases.. The retention percentages rise steadily (24%→49%→68%→81%) as the number of shows watched increases, showing a clear positive relationship, matching choice B.
A study paired the number of trained citizen-scientist observers with the count of newly logged bird sightings in a wetland reserve across five-year spans:
| 2000–2004 | 7 observers, 12 sightings |
|---|---|
| 2005–2009 | 12 observers, 19 sightings |
| 2010–2014 | 18 observers, 30 sightings |
| 2015–2019 | 25 observers, 41 sightings |
Which statement best matches the pattern shown in the figures?
B — As observer counts rose, newly logged sighting counts rose alongside them.. Both observer counts (7→12→18→25) and sighting counts (12→19→30→41) rise together across all four spans, a clear positive pattern matching choice B.
A clinic compared average patient check-in times before and after implementing a new digital intake system:
| Before system (avg.) | 14 minutes |
|---|---|
| After system (avg.) | 6 minutes |
| Average patient-reported comfort with the process before | 3.6/5 |
|---|---|
| Average patient-reported comfort after | 3.7/5 |
A clinic administrator claims that the new intake system substantially reduced check-in time and substantially improved patient comfort.
Does the data support the administrator's claim?
B — No, because although check-in time dropped substantially, comfort improved only slightly.. Check-in time dropped substantially (14 to 6 minutes), but comfort rose only slightly (3.6 to 3.7)—so while check-in time improved substantially, comfort did not improve to the same degree, contradicting the claim that both improved substantially.
A gym chain tracked member cancellation counts in the months surrounding a price increase:
| 2 months before | 88, 91 cancellations |
|---|---|
| 2 months after | 210, 198 cancellations |
A manager states that the price increase coincided with a rise in cancellations.
Do the figures support the manager's statement?
C — Yes, since cancellations were markedly higher in the two months after the increase than in the two months before it.. Cancellations rose from roughly 88–91 to roughly 198–210 after the price increase, a clear rise consistent with the manager's statement; choice A is incorrect since four months of data are shown.
A study tracked the percentage of survey respondents who reported composting food waste at home, broken down by whether their city offered curbside compost pickup:
| No pickup, urban | 9% |
|---|---|
| No pickup, suburban | 14% |
| Pickup, urban | 47% |
| Pickup, suburban | 52% |
Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?
B — Respondents with curbside compost pickup reported substantially higher composting rates than those without, regardless of area type.. Within each area type, pickup availability corresponds to much higher composting rates (47% vs. 9% urban; 52% vs. 14% suburban), showing the pickup effect holds across both area types, matching choice B.
A field study measured the number of pollinator visits per hour to flowers in three garden plots with different levels of pesticide use:
| No pesticide | 47 visits/hour |
|---|---|
| Low pesticide | 31 visits/hour |
| High pesticide | 12 visits/hour |
An ecologist claims that as pesticide use increases, pollinator visits decrease.
Does the table support the ecologist's claim?
C — Yes, because visit counts decrease consistently as pesticide use increases from none to low to high.. The values 47 → 31 → 12 decrease consistently as pesticide use rises from none to low to high, directly supporting the claim of an inverse relationship. Choice D misreads the data—high pesticide had fewer, not more, visits.
A wildlife agency tabulated average clutch size for a species of turtle nesting on four different beaches:
| Beach 1 | 6.2 eggs |
|---|---|
| Beach 2 | 9.8 eggs |
| Beach 3 | 4.1 eggs |
| Beach 4 | 7.5 eggs |
A biologist states that Beach 2 has the largest average clutch size among the four beaches studied.
Do the figures support the biologist's statement?
B — Yes, since 9.8 exceeds each of the other three beaches' averages.. Beach 2's 9.8 is greater than Beach 1 (6.2), Beach 3 (4.1), and Beach 4 (7.5), confirming it as the largest, which supports the biologist's statement.
A city compared the number of illegal dumping reports per month before and after installing surveillance cameras at known dumping sites:
| 3 months before installation | 47, 52, 44 reports |
|---|---|
| 3 months after installation | 13, 11, 15 reports |
A city official claims that the cameras roughly quartered the monthly dumping-report rate.
Does the data support the official's claim?
D — Yes, because the average monthly reports after installation (about 13) is roughly a quarter of the average before installation (about 48).. The average before (47+52+44)/3 ≈ 48 and after (13+11+15)/3 ≈ 13, which is roughly one quarter of the earlier value—supporting the official's claim as a reasonable approximation.
A study tracked the number of new butterfly species catalogued in a grassland region across five-year survey periods, alongside the number of trained field volunteers active during each period:
| 2000–2004 | 8 volunteers, 13 species |
|---|---|
| 2005–2009 | 13 volunteers, 21 species |
| 2010–2014 | 20 volunteers, 33 species |
| 2015–2019 | 26 volunteers, 41 species |
Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?
B — As the number of active field volunteers increased, the number of newly catalogued species also increased.. Both volunteer counts and catalogued species rise together across all four periods (8→13→20→26 and 13→21→33→41), a clear positive relationship matching choice B.
Score:
Every question above is now marked up: the correct answer is highlighted, any wrong option you picked is flagged, and each explanation is open.
No. Every question here is original, written to the College Board's published Digital SAT Reading & Writing specification for the Command of Evidence: Quantitative skill. No retired or copyrighted College Board material appears anywhere on this site.
Command of Evidence (Quantitative) pairs a short passage with a table or graph and asks which choice most effectively uses that data to complete or support a stated claim. No arithmetic beyond comparison is required — it is a reading question about a data display, not a maths question.
Read the title, the axis labels, the units and the column headers before you read a single answer choice; most wrong answers survive only because the reader assumed what the numbers measured. Then find the specific comparison the claim needs, locate exactly those cells or points, and check each choice against them.
No, and deliberately so. This drill is 10 Command of Evidence: Quantitative questions back to back; a real Reading & Writing module is 27 questions in 32 minutes drawn from all eleven skills. Use a drill to fix one weakness, then take a full module to practice the real thing.
No. The SAT has no penalty for a wrong answer — a blank and a wrong guess both score zero — so answer every question, including the ones you have to guess.