SAT Reading and Writing Practice Test: Command of Evidence
- Command of Evidence
- 10 questions
- 12 minutes
These 10 questions practice Command of Evidence (textual and quantitative), an Information and Ideas skill on the digital SAT. Underline the exact claim first; the right answer matches all of it, not just its topic.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
Some gardeners claim that playing music to tomato plants makes them grow taller. A student tested this idea by growing two groups of tomato plants with the same light, water and soil, and playing music to only one group. The student hypothesized that music would have no effect on the height of the plants.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the student's hypothesis?
Correct answer: A
The hypothesis is about height, and equal average heights in both groups show no effect of music. More flowers concerns a different trait, and 20% taller plants would contradict the hypothesis.
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Question 2
A town library added evening hours at the start of 2025. Average daily visits rose in each month shown in the table, but the increase was smallest in ______
Average daily visits to a town library Month 2024 2025 January 210 260 February 190 245 March 220 230 Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Correct answer: C
The increases were 50 in January, 55 in February and only 10 in March, so March had the smallest increase. January and February did not rise by equal amounts.
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Question 3
In a short story, the narrator describes her grandfather as a man who valued patience far more than speed.
Which quotation from the story most effectively illustrates the narrator's claim?
Correct answer: A
Waiting years for fruit instead of buying a grown tree shows a preference for patience over speed. The other quotations describe his habits and skills but say nothing about patience.
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Question 4
A student claims that in both City X and City Y, a smaller share of survey respondents travel to work by bicycle than by bus.
Main way survey respondents travel to work Mode City X City Y Bus 34% 22% Bicycle 18% 27% Car 41% 45% Walking 7% 6% Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to show that the student's claim is incorrect?
Correct answer: B
The claim fails if, in either city, bicycles are used by a larger share than buses, and in City Y 27% is greater than 22%. The City X figures agree with the claim, so they cannot show it is wrong.
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Question 5
Ecologists studying a forest songbird hypothesized that the bird nests in the forest mainly because of the tall oak trees that grow there.
Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the ecologists' hypothesis?
Correct answer: D
If the birds nest equally often where there are no oaks, the oaks cannot be the main reason they nest in the forest. Nesting in oak branches and fewer nests after oaks were cut would support the hypothesis instead.
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Question 6
An agricultural researcher concluded that all three fertilizers increased tomato yield compared with no fertilizer, but that one fertilizer clearly outperformed the others. ______
Average tomato yield per test plot Treatment Yield (kg) No fertilizer 12.4 Fertilizer 1 15.1 Fertilizer 2 14.8 Fertilizer 3 18.6 Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
Correct answer: C
The sentence must show one fertilizer clearly ahead, and Fertilizer 3 (18.6 kg) beats the next best (15.1 kg) by 3.5 kg. The small gap between Fertilizers 1 and 2 shows that those two are similar, not that one stands out.
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Question 7
A group of researchers hypothesizes that children who read printed books before bed fall asleep faster than children who read on tablets before bed.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers' hypothesis?
Correct answer: B
The hypothesis compares how fast the two groups fall asleep, and only this finding measures that, with bedtime held equal. Enjoyment, ownership and pages read do not address sleep at all.
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Question 8
After surveying students at her school, a student concluded that average sleep on school nights declined steadily from grade 9 to grade 12.
Average hours of sleep on school nights (student survey) Grade 9 10 11 12 Hours 7.9 7.4 7.0 6.6 Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to support the student's conclusion?
Correct answer: D
A steady decline needs evidence across all grades, and only this choice says each grade averaged less than the one before. The other choices give one or two values, which cannot show a trend through all four grades.
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Question 9
In a short story, the narrator suggests that her new neighbor is more nervous than he wants other people to know.
Which quotation from the story most effectively illustrates the narrator's suggestion?
Correct answer: B
The confident laugh is what he shows others, while the restless hands reveal hidden nervousness, which matches the claim exactly. The other quotations describe his move and his house, not his feelings.
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Question 10
Between 2015 and 2025, the town shifted toward renewable energy, and the source whose share grew the most was ______
Share of a town's electricity by source Source 2015 2025 Natural gas 58% 44% Coal 28% 16% Wind 10% 21% Solar 4% 19% Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Correct answer: D
Solar grew by 15 percentage points, more than wind's 11. Wind ends with the larger share, but the statement asks which share grew the most, and natural gas and coal both shrank.
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