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 field study measured the number of firefly sightings per hour in three meadow plots with different levels of artificial nighttime lighting:
| No lighting | 44 sightings/hour |
|---|---|
| Moderate lighting | 19 sightings/hour |
| Heavy lighting | 5 sightings/hour |
An ecologist claims that as artificial lighting increases, firefly sightings decrease.
Does the table support the ecologist's claim?
B — Yes, because sighting counts decrease consistently as lighting increases from none to moderate to heavy.. The values 44 → 19 → 5 decrease consistently as lighting rises from none to moderate to heavy, directly supporting the claim of an inverse relationship. Choice C misreads the data—heavy lighting had fewer, not more, sightings.
A researcher recorded average monthly rainfall and the number of reported potholes repaired on city streets across four months:
| January | 2.1 in. rain, 40 potholes |
|---|---|
| February | 3.4 in. rain, 68 potholes |
| March | 4.8 in. rain, 95 potholes |
| April | 1.9 in. rain, 33 potholes |
A public works official claims that pothole repairs are strongly associated with rainfall, with more rainfall linked to more repairs.
Does the data support the official's claim?
A — Yes, because months with more rainfall generally also had more pothole repairs.. As rainfall rises from April (1.9 in.) to March (4.8 in.), repairs also rise (33→40→68→95 following the rainfall pattern), showing a consistent positive association, supporting the claim. Choice B misstates April as having the highest rainfall when it had the lowest.
A survey asked residents of four towns how many minutes, on average, they spend gardening per week, and cross-referenced this with the number of community garden plots available per 1,000 residents:
| Town A | 1 plot/1,000, 20 min/week |
|---|---|
| Town B | 5 plots/1,000, 65 min/week |
| Town C | 9 plots/1,000, 110 min/week |
| Town D | 14 plots/1,000, 175 min/week |
Which choice best describes the relationship shown in the data?
A — As the number of community garden plots increases, average weekly gardening time also increases.. Gardening time rises steadily (20→65→110→175) as plot availability rises (1→5→9→14), a clear positive relationship, matching choice A exactly.
A researcher recorded the number of hours of daylight and the average daily ice cream sales (in units) at a beach shop across four months:
| June | 15 hrs daylight, 210 units |
|---|---|
| July | 15 hrs daylight, 240 units |
| August | 13 hrs daylight, 180 units |
| September | 11 hrs daylight, 95 units |
A shop owner claims that ice cream sales are strongly associated with hours of daylight, with more daylight linked to higher sales.
Does the data support the shop owner's claim?
A — Yes, because months with more daylight hours generally also had higher sales.. As daylight hours decrease from June/July (15 hrs) to August (13) to September (11), sales also decrease (240→180→95), showing a consistent positive association, supporting the claim. Choice C misstates September as having the highest sales when it had the lowest.
A researcher measured the average daily water loss (in milliliters) from the leaves of three plant species grown under identical humid and dry conditions:
| Species | Humid | Dry |
|---|---|---|
| Fern | 12 | 18 |
| Cactus | 3 | 4 |
| Oak | 15 | 34 |
The researcher concluded that the species differ in how strongly dry conditions increase their water loss.
Which choice best uses data from the table to support the researcher's conclusion?
D — In dry conditions the oak lost 34 mL and the cactus only 4 mL, so shifting from humid to dry raised the oak's water loss far more than the cactus's.. The conclusion is that species differ in how much dryness raises water loss. The oak rose 15→34 (+19) while the cactus rose only 3→4 (+1), so D supports it. A, B, and C all misread the table.
A city compared the number of streetlight outages reported per month before and after switching to LED bulbs:
| 3 months before switch | 85, 91, 78 outages |
|---|---|
| 3 months after switch | 22, 19, 25 outages |
A city official claims that switching to LED bulbs roughly quartered the monthly outage rate.
Does the data support the official's claim?
B — Yes, because the average monthly outages after the switch (about 22) is roughly a quarter of the average before the switch (about 85).. The average before (85+91+78)/3 ≈ 85 and after (22+19+25)/3 ≈ 22, which is roughly one quarter of the earlier value—supporting the official's claim as a reasonable approximation.
A company tracked customer complaint calls before and after introducing a new automated phone menu:
| Month 1 (before change) | 850 calls |
|---|---|
| Month 2 (before change) | 820 calls |
| Month 3 (after change) | 1,340 calls |
| Month 4 (after change) | 1,290 calls |
A customer service manager claims the new automated phone menu caused an increase in complaint calls.
Does the data support the manager's claim?
B — Yes, because complaint calls were notably higher in the two months after the change than in the two months before it.. Calls rose from roughly 820–850 to roughly 1,290–1,340 after the change, a clear and notable increase consistent with the claim. The data covers four months, so choice A is factually wrong, and choice D misreads the direction of change.
A researcher paired the number of after-school tutoring sessions held and the number of students passing a district math exam across four semesters:
| Semester 1 | 5 sessions, 60 passing |
|---|---|
| Semester 2 | 12 sessions, 95 passing |
| Semester 3 | 9 sessions, 88 passing |
| Semester 4 | 18 sessions, 130 passing |
Which statement best matches the pattern shown in the figures?
D — As the number of tutoring sessions held rose, the number of students passing generally also rose.. Both session counts and passing counts generally rise together across the four semesters (5→12→9→18 roughly tracking 60→95→88→130), a clear positive relationship matching choice D.
A researcher studying commute times collected the following data on average one-way commute time by transportation mode in a mid-sized city:
| Car | 24 minutes |
|---|---|
| Bus | 41 minutes |
| Bike | 22 minutes |
| Train | 19 minutes |
The researcher claims that, on average, commuting by train is faster than commuting by any other mode listed.
Does the table support the researcher's claim?
C — Yes, because train has the lowest average commute time of the four modes listed.. Train's average (19 minutes) is lower than car (24), bus (41), and bike (22), so it is indeed the fastest mode listed, supporting the claim. Choice B misreads the numbers—bike (22) is slower than train (19), not faster.
A researcher studying charging times collected data on average full-charge time by electric vehicle charger type:
| Level 1 | 11.2 hours |
|---|---|
| Level 2 | 4.6 hours |
| DC Fast | 0.6 hours |
| Level 1 with adapter | 9.8 hours |
The researcher claims that, on average, DC Fast charging is quicker than any other charger type listed.
Does the table support the researcher's claim?
C — Yes, because DC Fast has the lowest average charge time of the four types listed.. DC Fast's average (0.6 hours) is lower than Level 1 (11.2), Level 2 (4.6), and Level 1 with adapter (9.8), so it is indeed the quickest type listed, supporting the claim. Choice A misreads the numbers—Level 2 (4.6) is slower than DC Fast (0.6), not faster.
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.