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 behavioral economist argues that default enrollment in a workplace retirement savings plan, requiring employees to actively opt out rather than opt in, significantly increases overall participation rates.
Which finding would most directly support the economist's argument?
C — Data show that participation rates rose sharply at companies that switched from an opt-in enrollment system to a default opt-out system, with little change in the retirement plan's actual terms.. The claim is specifically about the enrollment default mechanism driving participation; a finding directly comparing participation before and after such a switch, with plan terms unchanged, isolates and supports this specific mechanism.
A civil engineer claims that adding rumble strips along a rural highway's shoulder reduced the number of run-off-road accidents specifically caused by driver drowsiness.
Which finding would most directly support the engineer's claim?
C — Accident reports show that after rumble strips were installed, run-off-road accidents attributed to driver drowsiness decreased, while accidents attributed to other causes on the same highway stayed roughly the same.. The claim is specifically about drowsiness-caused accidents; a finding isolating this specific accident type as declining while other-cause accidents remain steady directly supports the claim's specific causal mechanism, unlike the other unrelated measures.
A nutritionist argues that offering smaller default portion sizes at a cafeteria leads diners to request fewer refills overall, not just to eat a smaller first portion.
Which finding would most directly support the nutritionist's argument?
B — A study found that after default portions were reduced, refill requests dropped by 18% at the cafeterias studied.. The claim is specifically about refill requests decreasing, not just initial portion size decreasing. A finding showing refill requests actually dropped directly supports this specific behavioral effect; the other choices address unrelated measures.
A climatologist argues that restoring seagrass meadows along a stretch of coastline has measurably reduced wave energy reaching the shore by slowing water movement near the seafloor.
Which finding would most directly support the climatologist's argument?
C — Data show that after seagrass restoration began, near-seafloor water speeds decreased and wave energy reaching the shore measurably declined along the restored stretch.. The claim links restoration to both reduced water speed and reduced wave energy; a finding showing both changes occurred together after restoration directly supports the causal claim. The other findings don't address the wave-energy mechanism.
A civil engineer claims that adding a raised median strip to a suburban avenue reduced left-turn-related accidents at intersections along that avenue specifically.
Which finding would most directly support the engineer's claim?
A — Accident reports show that after the median was installed, left-turn-related accidents on the avenue decreased, while accidents attributed to other causes on the same avenue stayed roughly the same.. The claim is specifically about left-turn-related accidents; a finding isolating this specific accident type as declining while other-cause accidents remain steady directly supports the claim's specific causal mechanism, unlike the other unrelated measures.
A sleep researcher hypothesizes that dimming household lights in the two hours before bedtime improves sleep onset time more than simply reducing screen brightness alone does.
Which finding would most directly support the sleep researcher's hypothesis?
A — In a sleep lab study, participants who experienced dimmed ambient lighting before bed fell asleep significantly faster than participants who used dimmed screens but kept normal ambient room lighting.. This is a direct controlled comparison between ambient lighting and screen brightness on sleep onset time, exactly matching the researcher's hypothesis; the other options don't isolate this specific comparison.
A transportation planner claims that adding a dedicated bus lane on a congested avenue would significantly reduce average commute times for bus riders without substantially slowing car traffic.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the planner's claim?
A — A pilot program on a similar avenue in another city found that bus commute times dropped 18% while average car travel times increased by less than 2%.. The planner's claim specifically concerns bus commute time reduction with minimal car traffic impact; a pilot program directly measuring both outcomes on a similar avenue most directly supports this specific claim. The other options are irrelevant to bus lanes.
A food scientist claims that a newly developed plant-based meat substitute is perceived by consumers as tasting more similar to real meat than earlier plant-based products did.
Which finding would most directly support the food scientist's claim?
A — In blind taste tests, a significantly higher percentage of participants misidentified the new substitute as real meat compared with the percentage who misidentified earlier substitutes.. The claim is specifically about taste similarity as perceived by consumers; a blind taste test showing improved misidentification rates directly measures this perception. Market share, environmental concern, and protein content don't address taste similarity.
A climatologist argues that restoring oyster reefs along a stretch of coastline has measurably improved water clarity by filtering suspended sediment from the surrounding water.
Which finding would most directly support the climatologist's argument?
A — Data show that after oyster reef restoration began, sediment filtration rates increased and water clarity measurably improved along the restored stretch.. The claim links restoration to both filtration and clarity; a finding showing both changes occurred together after restoration directly supports the causal claim. The other findings don't address the clarity/filtration mechanism.
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.