9 original Command of Evidence: Textual questions, easiest first. Which quotation or finding would most strengthen — or weaken — a stated claim. Answer them all, then submit once to see every answer explained.
A nutritionist argues that offering fruit as a free side option at fast-food restaurants leads customers to order fewer fried side dishes overall, not just to add fruit alongside their existing order.
Which finding would most directly support the nutritionist's argument?
B — A study found that after fruit was offered free, orders of fried side dishes dropped by 15% at the restaurants studied.. The claim is specifically about fried side orders decreasing, not just fruit orders increasing. A finding showing fried side orders actually dropped directly supports this specific substitution effect; the other choices address unrelated measures.
A nutritionist argues that reducing sugary drink availability in schools leads students to consume more, not fewer, calories overall, because students compensate by bringing high-calorie snacks from home.
Which finding would most directly support the nutritionist's argument?
A — A study found that after a school district removed sugary drinks, students' average daily calorie intake, measured across all food sources, increased slightly.. The claim is about total calorie intake increasing due to compensation. A finding showing overall calorie intake (from all sources) rose after the policy directly supports this specific mechanism; the other choices address unrelated measures.
A psychologist claims that people are more likely to complete a long survey when they are shown a progress bar indicating how much of the survey remains, compared with when no progress indicator is shown.
Which finding would most directly support the psychologist's claim?
C — In a controlled experiment, participants who saw a progress bar completed the survey at twice the rate of participants who saw no progress indicator.. This is a direct experimental comparison of the two conditions the psychologist's claim is about (progress bar vs. none), with completion rate results supporting the claim; the other choices don't test this specific comparison.
A labor economist argues that a recent expansion of paid family leave in a particular state did not lead to reduced hiring among small businesses, contrary to some predictions.
Which finding would most directly support the economist's argument?
D — Employment records show that small business hiring rates in the state remained essentially unchanged in the two years following the leave expansion.. The claim is specifically about hiring rates among small businesses; stable hiring rates after the expansion directly supports the claim that hiring wasn't reduced. The other options address different, less directly relevant measures.
A food scientist claims that a newly developed reduced-fat cheese is perceived by consumers as tasting more similar to full-fat cheese than earlier reduced-fat products did.
Which finding would most directly support the food scientist's claim?
C — In blind taste tests, a significantly higher percentage of participants rated the new reduced-fat cheese as indistinguishable from full-fat cheese compared with the percentage who rated earlier products that way.. The claim is specifically about taste similarity as perceived by consumers; a blind taste test showing improved indistinguishability rates directly measures this perception. Market share, consumer concern, and sodium content don't address taste similarity.
A linguist argues that children raised in bilingual households develop certain executive function skills, such as task-switching ability, earlier than children raised in monolingual households.
Which finding would most directly support the linguist's argument?
C — In cognitive tests measuring task-switching speed, bilingual children outperformed monolingual children of the same age.. The claim is specifically about executive function/task-switching; a cognitive test directly measuring and comparing this skill between the two groups is the most direct support. The other choices measure unrelated or different skills.
A labor economist argues that a recent expansion of subsidized childcare in a particular state did not lead to a significant decrease in workforce participation among primary caregivers, contrary to some predictions.
Which finding would most directly support the economist's argument?
C — Employment records show that workforce participation among primary caregivers in the state remained essentially unchanged in the year following the childcare expansion.. The claim is specifically about workforce participation among caregivers; unchanged participation rates after the expansion directly supports the claim that no significant decrease occurred. The other options address different, less directly relevant measures.
A sleep researcher hypothesizes that keeping bedroom temperature below 68 degrees Fahrenheit improves deep sleep duration more than using a white-noise machine does.
Which finding would most directly support the sleep researcher's hypothesis?
B — In a sleep lab study, participants sleeping in rooms below 68 degrees had significantly longer deep sleep duration than participants using a white-noise machine at a warmer room temperature.. This is a direct controlled comparison between room temperature and white noise on deep sleep duration, exactly matching the researcher's hypothesis; the other options don't isolate this specific comparison.
A linguist argues that children who regularly participate in call-and-response singing games develop stronger rhythmic language skills by age six than children who do not participate in such games.
Which finding would most directly support the linguist's argument?
C — In assessments of rhythmic language ability, six-year-olds who regularly played call-and-response singing games scored higher than six-year-olds who did not.. The claim is specifically about rhythmic language skill compared between groups; a direct assessment comparing this skill between the two groups is the most direct support. The other choices measure unrelated or different outcomes.
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: Textual skill. No retired or copyrighted College Board material appears anywhere on this site.
Command of Evidence (Textual) describes a claim, hypothesis or argument and asks which quotation, finding or example would most directly support it, illustrate it, or weaken it. The passage sets up the claim; the choices are the candidate evidence.
Restate, in one sentence, exactly what has to be proven — including any qualifier like "in cities", "before 1900", "for adults only". Then test each choice against that sentence alone. Evidence that is true, interesting and about the right topic still fails if it does not bear on the specific claim, and "weaken" questions are lost almost entirely by candidates who answer them as "support" questions.
No, and deliberately so. This drill is 9 Command of Evidence: Textual 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.