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.
An entomologist proposes that a particular species of moth reduces its activity in areas with high levels of artificial nighttime lighting, which may explain declining pollination rates of a plant that relies on the moth near cities.
Which finding would most directly support the entomologist's proposal?
C — In a field study, moths in areas with high artificial lighting were active for significantly fewer hours per night than moths in areas with minimal artificial lighting.. This field study directly tests activity reduction (the claim's mechanism) as a function of artificial lighting exposure, precisely matching the claim; the other options do not test activity levels or causally isolate lighting's effect.
A city planner claims that a proposed bike lane network would significantly increase the number of commuters who bike to work rather than drive.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the planner's claim?
B — A survey found that 40% of current drivers said they would switch to biking if protected bike lanes existed on their commute route.. The planner's claim is specifically that bike lanes would shift commuters from driving to biking; a survey showing drivers would switch given protected lanes directly supports this causal claim. The other options are irrelevant to the bike lane proposal.
A linguist argues that children who are read aloud to daily before age five develop larger vocabularies by age eight than children who are read aloud to only occasionally, independent of household income.
Which finding would most directly support the linguist's argument?
C — Controlling for household income, children read to daily scored higher on vocabulary tests at age eight than children read to occasionally.. The claim specifically requires the effect to hold independent of income; a study controlling for income and still finding a vocabulary difference directly supports this. The other choices don't isolate the effect from income or measure vocabulary at age eight.
An entomologist proposes that a particular species of dragonfly reduces its hunting activity in ponds with high levels of agricultural runoff, which may explain declining dragonfly populations near farmland.
Which finding would most directly support the entomologist's proposal?
C — In a field study, dragonflies in ponds with high agricultural runoff hunted significantly less often than dragonflies in ponds with minimal runoff.. This field study directly tests hunting-activity reduction (the claim's mechanism) as a function of agricultural runoff exposure, precisely matching the claim; the other options do not test hunting activity or causally isolate runoff's effect.
A food scientist claims that a newly developed plant-based egg substitute is perceived by consumers as scrambling and tasting more similar to real eggs than earlier plant-based substitutes did.
Which finding would most directly support the food scientist's claim?
C — In blind taste and texture tests, a significantly higher percentage of participants rated the new substitute as indistinguishable from real scrambled eggs compared with the percentage who rated earlier substitutes that way.. The claim is specifically about taste and texture similarity as perceived by consumers; a blind test showing improved indistinguishability rates directly measures this perception. Market share, environmental concern, and protein content don't address perceived similarity.
A transportation planner claims that adding a protected pedestrian crossing near a busy shopping district would increase foot traffic to nearby stores without significantly slowing vehicle traffic on the adjacent street.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the planner's claim?
B — A similar crossing installed in another city led to a 15% rise in nearby store foot traffic while vehicle travel times increased by less than 30 seconds on average.. The planner's claim specifically concerns increased foot traffic with minimal vehicle delay; a comparable installation directly measuring both outcomes most directly supports this specific claim. The other options are irrelevant to the proposed crossing.
An entomologist proposes that a particular species of firefly reduces its light-flashing activity in areas with high levels of artificial nighttime lighting, which may explain declining firefly populations near cities.
Which finding would most directly support the entomologist's proposal?
C — In a field study, fireflies in areas with high artificial lighting flashed significantly less often than fireflies in areas with minimal artificial lighting.. This field study directly tests flashing-activity reduction (the claim's mechanism) as a function of artificial lighting exposure, precisely matching the claim; the other options do not test flashing behavior or causally isolate lighting's effect.
A veterinarian claims that providing shelter cats with a hiding box in their enclosure reduces stress-related grooming behaviors more than providing additional toys alone does.
Which finding would most directly support the veterinarian's claim?
C — In a shelter study, cats given a hiding box showed a greater reduction in stress-related grooming than cats given an equal number of additional toys without a hiding box.. This is a direct controlled comparison between a hiding box and toy-only enrichment on grooming reduction, exactly matching the claim; the other options don't isolate this specific comparison.
A public health official claims that a citywide campaign promoting flu vaccination significantly reduced flu-related workplace absences among adults aged 25 to 40 specifically.
Which finding would most directly support the official's claim?
A — Employer records show that flu-related absences among workers aged 25 to 40 dropped in the city after the campaign, while such absences in a similar nearby city without the campaign stayed flat.. A comparison of flu-related absences among the specific age group between the campaign city and a similar city without the campaign directly tests the campaign's specific effect, matching the claim precisely; the other choices don't measure actual workplace 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.