SAT command of evidence: textual questions: how to answer them

Which finding would support or weaken a claim, or which quotation best illustrates a claim about a literary work.

Practise command of evidence: textual →Timed module

What the question looks like

Each question has its own short text (a passage, a pair of texts, a table or a student's notes) and four options. The usual question is: Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researcher's claim?

How to answer it

  1. Write the claim in short form, including every part: who, what, and why.
  2. Ask what result would have to be true if the claim were right.
  3. Choose the option that tests the claim directly, ideally holding other causes constant.
  4. For quotations, find the exact feature named in the claim (regret, humour hiding sadness) and check it is in the quotation.

Common traps

In the harder second module

Hard questions have multi-part claims. The right finding addresses every part: for example, it controls for exercise when the claim is about greenery 'not merely exercise'.

Worked example

Worked example (easier)

A student claims that the school's new water fountains, which have a counter showing how many plastic bottles have been saved, have encouraged students to use refillable bottles.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the student's claim?

  1. The new fountains cost more than the old ones.
  2. Some students prefer cold water to room-temperature water.
  3. Sales of bottled water in the school café fell by half after the fountains were installed.
  4. The school installed the fountains during the summer holiday.

Answer: C: Sales of bottled water in the school café fell by half after the fountains were installed.

If fewer bottles of water were bought after the fountains arrived, that suggests students switched to refilling their own bottles.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: Cost says nothing about student behavior.
  • B: A preference for cold water does not show that the fountains changed what students do.
  • D: When the fountains were installed is irrelevant to their effect.

Practice questions

Try each one before you open the answer. Every answer explains why the right option is right and why each of the other three is wrong. Answers to the first 4 are open to everyone; the rest need only a free account. Questions use American English, as the SAT does.

Question 1 (medium)

Biologist Marta Lindqvist hypothesizes that house sparrows in cities have learned to open automatic doors at supermarkets by flying in front of the motion sensors, so they can get inside to feed on crumbs.

Which finding, if true, would most strongly support Lindqvist's hypothesis?

  1. Sparrows are common in cities across Europe.
  2. Some supermarkets have doors that open manually rather than automatically.
  3. Supermarkets often leave crumbs near their bakery counters.
  4. Sparrows were repeatedly recorded hovering in front of door sensors until the doors opened and then flying in.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: D: Sparrows were repeatedly recorded hovering in front of door sensors until the doors opened and then flying in.

The hypothesis is that sparrows trigger the sensors on purpose. Repeated recordings of sparrows hovering at the sensor, then entering when the door opens, directly show that behavior.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: That sparrows are common says nothing about whether they open doors.
  • B: Manual doors are irrelevant to sparrows triggering automatic sensors.
  • C: Crumbs explain why sparrows might want to get in, not how they do it.

Question 2 (hard)

Ecologist Ana Vukovic argues that the decline of a wildflower in a mountain meadow is caused by earlier snowmelt, which makes the plants flower before their main pollinators, a species of bumblebee, become active in spring.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Vukovic's argument?

  1. The wildflower grows in several other mountain regions.
  2. The bumblebees also visit several other species of flowers in the meadow.
  3. The meadow has become warmer on average over the past fifty years.
  4. In years when snow melted late, the wildflowers produced more seeds, and their flowering coincided more closely with the bees' emergence.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: D: In years when snow melted late, the wildflowers produced more seeds, and their flowering coincided more closely with the bees' emergence.

Vukovic's argument links snowmelt timing, the overlap with bees, and the plant's success. Late-melt years showing both closer overlap and more seeds connect all three.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: Its range elsewhere is irrelevant to the cause of the decline in this meadow.
  • B: Bees visiting other flowers does not show that timing mismatch harms this wildflower.
  • C: Warming is consistent with earlier snowmelt but says nothing about pollination timing or the plant's decline.

Question 3 (hard)

A historian argues that letters were the main way that news of the 1848 revolutions spread between European cities, rather than newspapers, which were often censored.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the historian's argument?

  1. Many newspapers in 1848 were printed on cheap paper that has not survived.
  2. Reports of events appeared in private letters in other cities several days before any newspaper in those cities mentioned them.
  3. Some newspapers in 1848 were published only once a week.
  4. Letters in 1848 were usually written in the language of the city where they were sent.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: B: Reports of events appeared in private letters in other cities several days before any newspaper in those cities mentioned them.

If letters consistently carried news days earlier than newspapers, letters were plausibly the main channel for spreading it.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: The survival of newspapers today is irrelevant to how news spread in 1848.
  • C: Weekly publication for some papers is weak evidence and says nothing about letters.
  • D: The language of letters does not show that they spread news more than newspapers did.

Question 4 (hard)

Astronomer Yara Costa hypothesizes that a newly discovered planet has a thick atmosphere that spreads heat from its permanently sunlit side to its permanently dark side.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Costa's hypothesis?

  1. Measurements show that the temperature difference between the planet's day side and night side is far smaller than it would be for a planet with no atmosphere.
  2. The planet's day side is extremely hot.
  3. The planet is larger than Earth.
  4. The planet orbits its star more closely than Mercury orbits the Sun.
Show the answer and why each option is right or wrong

Answer: A: Measurements show that the temperature difference between the planet's day side and night side is far smaller than it would be for a planet with no atmosphere.

An atmosphere that carries heat to the night side would shrink the day-night temperature difference, which is exactly what this measurement shows.

Why the other options are wrong

  • B: A hot day side alone is expected with or without an atmosphere.
  • C: Size does not show whether heat is transported between sides.
  • D: A close orbit explains why the planet is hot but not whether heat is spread to the night side.

Question 5 (medium)

In a short story, the narrator's aunt is portrayed as someone who refuses to admit when she is wrong.

Which quotation from the story most effectively illustrates this portrayal?

  1. "When the cake collapsed in the oven, Aunt Bea announced that she had always intended to make a pudding."
  2. "Aunt Bea baked every Sunday, filling the house with the smell of cinnamon."
  3. "Aunt Bea laughed so loudly that the neighbors' dog began to bark."
  4. "Aunt Bea kept her recipes in a tin box that had belonged to her mother."

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 6 (medium)

Historian Kenji Watanabe claims that the town's first public library was founded mainly to serve factory workers, not wealthy residents.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Watanabe's claim?

  1. Wealthy residents donated money to build the library.
  2. The library was open in the evenings and on Sundays, the only times the factory workers were not at work.
  3. The library contained more than ten thousand books.
  4. The library's building was designed by a famous architect.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 7 (hard)

A team of economists claims that a city's free bus program, launched in 2022, increased visits to downtown shops rather than simply moving shoppers away from other areas.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the team's claim?

  1. Spending in downtown shops rose after 2022, while spending in suburban malls fell by the same amount.
  2. Most bus riders said they enjoyed the free service.
  3. Downtown shops had more visitors on weekends than on weekdays.
  4. After 2022, spending rose in downtown shops while spending in suburban malls stayed the same as before.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 8 (hard)

In a novel, the narrator describes her father, a lighthouse keeper, as someone whose sense of duty outweighs his own comfort.

Which quotation from the novel most effectively illustrates the narrator's description?

  1. "In summer he would sit on the rocks for hours, watching the seals sun themselves below."
  2. "Through the worst of the January gales he climbed the tower every two hours to trim the lamp, though his hands were cracked and bleeding from the cold."
  3. "My father loved the lighthouse, and he told visitors stories about the ships he had seen pass."
  4. "He kept the keeper's log in a neat, small hand, recording the weather each morning."

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 9 (hard)

Neuroscientist Lucas Andrade proposes that the improvement in mood people report after walking in a park comes from contact with greenery itself, not merely from physical exercise.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Andrade's proposal?

  1. Participants who exercised more often reported better moods in general.
  2. Participants who walked for the same time and at the same pace reported a greater improvement in mood after walking in a park than after walking along a busy street.
  3. Participants who walked in a park walked faster than those who walked along a busy street.
  4. Participants who walked in a park reported better moods than participants who stayed indoors.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 10 (hard)

Archaeologist Fatima Zahra argues that the large stone circle at Kellan Moor was used to mark the date of the midwinter sunrise.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Zahra's argument?

  1. On the shortest day of the year, the rising sun is seen exactly through the gap between the circle's two tallest stones when viewed from its center.
  2. Similar stone circles exist in several other parts of the region.
  3. The stones were brought to the site from a quarry about twenty kilometers away.
  4. Pottery fragments found near the circle date to the same period as the stones.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 11 (hard)

In a poem, the speaker expresses regret that she did not appreciate an ordinary moment until it had passed.

Which quotation from the poem most effectively illustrates this regret?

  1. "Someday, I think, I'll learn to bake bread / the way my mother did, without a recipe."
  2. "I hurried through that kitchen afternoon, / and only now, in the stillness after, / do I hear how the kettle was singing."
  3. "The kettle sang its single note / as it has every morning for forty years."
  4. "The kitchen was warm, the kettle was singing, / and I sat with my mother until evening."

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 12 (hard)

Marine scientist Ilse Bergmann hypothesizes that a coral species survives unusual heat waves because it can take in a type of heat-tolerant algae from the surrounding water when temperatures rise.

Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken Bergmann's hypothesis?

  1. Corals of this species contained more heat-tolerant algae after heat waves than before them.
  2. Corals of this species kept in filtered water containing no algae survived simulated heat waves just as well as corals kept in unfiltered seawater.
  3. Other coral species that cannot take in algae from the water died during the same heat waves.
  4. Heat-tolerant algae were found in the seawater around reefs where this coral grows.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 13 (hard)

In a play, the character Odile is portrayed as someone who hides her true feelings behind humor.

Which quotation from the play most effectively illustrates this portrayal?

  1. Odile (joking with the neighbor): "Your dog has better manners than my brother."
  2. Odile (calmly): "I think you should do whatever makes you happy."
  3. Odile (laughing, though her voice catches): "Leave? Of course you should leave. Who else would I find to burn the toast every morning?"
  4. Odile (angrily): "If you leave, I will never forgive you."

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 14 (hard)

Psychologist Nadia Hosseini claims that people who are told that a task measures intelligence perform worse on it if they are anxious about being judged, even when they are equally skilled.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Hosseini's claim?

  1. Participants who scored well on the puzzles reported enjoying them more.
  2. Among participants with similar scores on an earlier practice test, those told the puzzle measured intelligence scored lower than those told it was a game, and the gap was largest for those who reported high anxiety about being judged.
  3. Participants who reported high anxiety also reported sleeping less the night before.
  4. Participants who were told the puzzle was a game completed it faster than those told it measured intelligence.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 15 (hard)

Linguist Omar Haddad hypothesizes that speakers of languages with many words for directions (such as 'uphill' and 'downhill') are better at keeping track of which way they are facing than speakers of languages that mainly use 'left' and 'right'.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Haddad's hypothesis?

  1. Speakers of direction-rich languages use more words when giving directions to strangers.
  2. Children learn the words 'left' and 'right' at around the same age in every language studied.
  3. When led blindfolded through a winding route and asked to point toward their starting point, speakers of direction-rich languages pointed more accurately than other speakers of the same age and education.
  4. Speakers of direction-rich languages often live in mountainous areas.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 16 (hard)

An urban historian claims that the widening of Harbor Street in 1910 was intended mainly to ease the movement of goods from the docks, not to improve the street's appearance for residents.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support the historian's claim?

  1. After the widening, several new shops opened along Harbor Street.
  2. Photographs from 1912 show trees planted along the widened street.
  3. Residents had complained for years about the street's narrow sidewalks.
  4. The city council's records show that the widening was paid for by a tax on shipping companies, who had petitioned for wider roads to fit their wagons.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 17 (hard)

Agricultural scientist Grace Mwangi claims that intercropping beans with maize raises maize yields mainly because the beans add nitrogen to the soil.

Which finding, if true, would most directly support Mwangi's claim?

  1. Maize grown next to beans was attacked by fewer insects than maize grown alone.
  2. Beans grown next to maize gave lower yields than beans grown alone.
  3. Farmers who intercrop beans with maize earn more from selling both crops.
  4. Maize grown next to beans gave higher yields than maize grown alone, but maize grown alone with added nitrogen fertilizer gave yields just as high as the intercropped maize.

The solution is free with a free account.

Question 18 (hard)

In a novel, the narrator suggests that the townspeople's admiration for the new mayor is beginning to fade.

Which quotation from the novel most effectively illustrates the narrator's suggestion?

  1. "Everyone agreed that the mayor's new park was the finest the town had ever seen."
  2. "At the summer fair, people still applauded when the mayor rose to speak, but the applause ended sooner each time, and some went on talking through her speech."
  3. "The mayor walked to work each morning, greeting shopkeepers by name."
  4. "The mayor had won the election by a wide margin, carrying every ward in town."

The solution is free with a free account.

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