Information and Ideas

SAT Command of Evidence: Quantitative Practice — Drill 3

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.

Question 1

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A subscription box company tracked the percentage of customers who upgraded to an annual plan, broken down by how many monthly boxes they had received before being offered the upgrade:

1–2 boxes 11% upgraded
3–4 boxes 28% upgraded
5–6 boxes 45% upgraded
7+ boxes 61% upgraded

Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?

  1. A Customers who received fewest boxes had the highest upgrade rate.
  2. B Upgrade rate generally increases as the number of boxes received before the offer increases.
  3. C Upgrade rate was identical across all box-count groups.
  4. D Upgrade rate generally decreases as the number of boxes received before the offer increases.

Question 2

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A researcher recorded the average number of hours volunteers spent training and their subsequent success rate at completing a wilderness certification exam:

Under 5 hrs 31% pass rate
5–10 hrs 54% pass rate
10–20 hrs 78% pass rate
Over 20 hrs 85% pass rate

Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?

  1. A Volunteers who trained least had the highest pass rate.
  2. B Pass rate generally decreases as training hours increase.
  3. C Pass rate generally increases as training hours increase.
  4. D Pass rate was identical across all training-hour groups.

Question 3

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A study tracked the number of new lichen species catalogued in a forest region across five-year survey periods, alongside the number of trained field researchers active during each period:

2000–2004 5 researchers, 9 species
2005–2009 9 researchers, 15 species
2010–2014 14 researchers, 26 species
2015–2019 20 researchers, 35 species

Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?

  1. A As the number of active field researchers increased, the number of newly catalogued species also increased.
  2. B As the number of active field researchers increased, the number of newly catalogued species decreased.
  3. C The number of newly catalogued species remained constant across all periods.
  4. D There is no discernible pattern between researchers and catalogued species in the table.

Question 4

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A researcher measured average alertness-test scores for shift workers who reported different amounts of natural light exposure during their break periods:

No exposure 58 points
Brief exposure 67 points
Moderate exposure 79 points
Extended exposure 71 points

A workplace consultant claims that alertness scores increase continuously the more natural light exposure a worker has during breaks.

Does the data support the consultant's claim?

  1. A No, because scores rise from no exposure to moderate exposure, but then fall for workers with extended exposure.
  2. B Yes, because the group with the most exposure scored higher than the group with none.
  3. C Yes, because scores increased in a perfectly steady pattern across all four groups.
  4. D No, because all four groups scored exactly the same.

Question 5

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A researcher recorded the number of active community gardens and the total pounds of produce donated to food banks in a city over four years:

Year 1 12 gardens, 3,100 lbs
Year 2 18 gardens, 4,600 lbs
Year 3 15 gardens, 5,200 lbs
Year 4 24 gardens, 5,900 lbs

A city official claims that years with more gardens always resulted in more produce donated.

Does the data support the city official's claim?

  1. A No, because Year 3 had fewer gardens than Year 2 but more produce donated, contradicting a simple always-increasing relationship.
  2. B Yes, because every year with more gardens also had more produce donated than the previous year.
  3. C Yes, because Year 4 had both the most gardens and the most produce donated.
  4. D No, because the number of gardens was identical across all four years.

Question 6

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A study tracked the number of new plant species discovered in a rainforest region across five-year survey periods, alongside the number of trained field researchers active during each period:

2000–2004 12 researchers, 8 species
2005–2009 19 researchers, 15 species
2010–2014 27 researchers, 24 species
2015–2019 33 researchers, 29 species

Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?

  1. A As the number of active field researchers increased, the number of newly discovered species also increased.
  2. B There is no discernible pattern between researchers and discoveries in the table.
  3. C As the number of active field researchers increased, the number of newly discovered species decreased.
  4. D The number of newly discovered species remained constant across all periods.

Question 7

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

An orchard manager logged the number of aphids per leaf sample across three sections treated with varying amounts of ladybug releases:

No release 41 aphids
Moderate release 18 aphids
Heavy release 5 aphids

An entomologist states that greater numbers of released ladybugs correspond to fewer aphids per leaf.

Do the figures support the entomologist's statement?

  1. A No, since aphid counts rise steadily as ladybug releases increase.
  2. B Yes, since aphid counts fall steadily as ladybug releases increase from none to moderate to heavy.
  3. C No, since all three sections had an identical aphid count.
  4. D Yes, since the heavy-release section had more aphids than the no-release section.

Question 8

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A researcher studying loading times collected data on average full-page load time by internet connection type:

Dial-up 42.0 sec
DSL 6.5 sec
Cable 2.1 sec
Fiber 0.4 sec

The researcher claims that, on average, fiber connections load pages faster than any other connection type listed.

Does the table support the researcher's claim?

  1. A Yes, because fiber has the lowest average load time of the four types listed.
  2. B No, because cable has a lower average load time than fiber.
  3. C Yes, because fiber has the highest average load time of the four types listed.
  4. D No, because DSL has a lower average load time than fiber.

Question 9

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A researcher recorded the number of newly registered beekeepers and the total colonies reported healthy in a county over four years:

Year 1 30 beekeepers, 210 healthy colonies
Year 2 42 beekeepers, 265 healthy colonies
Year 3 37 beekeepers, 290 healthy colonies
Year 4 55 beekeepers, 310 healthy colonies

A county extension officer states that years with more registered beekeepers always had more healthy colonies than years with fewer registered beekeepers.

Do the figures support the extension officer's statement?

  1. A Yes, since every year with more beekeepers had more healthy colonies than the prior year.
  2. B Yes, since Year 4 had both the most beekeepers and the most healthy colonies.
  3. C No, since Year 3 had fewer beekeepers than Year 2 yet more healthy colonies, breaking a strict always-increasing pattern.
  4. D No, since the beekeeper count was identical across all four years.

Question 10

Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Medium

A fitness app tracked the percentage of users who maintained a workout streak for over 90 days, broken down by how many friends they had connected within the app:

0 friends 6% maintained
1–3 friends 19% maintained
4–7 friends 34% maintained
8+ friends 52% maintained

Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the table?

  1. A The percentage maintaining a long streak generally decreases as the number of connected friends increases.
  2. B The percentage maintaining a long streak generally increases as the number of connected friends increases.
  3. C Users with the fewest connected friends had the highest streak-maintenance rate.
  4. D The streak-maintenance rate was identical across all friend-count groups.

Command of Evidence: Quantitative Drill 3 FAQ

Are these real, previously administered SAT questions?

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.

What does the Command of Evidence: Quantitative question type actually test?

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.

How should I approach Command of Evidence: Quantitative questions?

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.

Is Command of Evidence: Quantitative Drill 3 the same length as a real SAT module?

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.

Does guessing hurt my SAT score?

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.

This drill
10 questions
Command of Evidence: Quantitative · Information and Ideas
⬇ SAT Prep: Dark Horse Daily keeps a live mastery board across all 11 skills — it tells you which question types are quietly costing you points, and remembers it between sessions.