Command of Evidence: SAT Practice Questions & Study Guide

A student is writing a paper arguing that urban tree canopy reduces summer heat in cities. The student wants to include a quotation from the following passage to support this argument. The following text is adapted from a 2020 environmental science report. Urban forests provide a range of ecosystem services beyond aesthetic value. Trees reduce stormwater runoff by intercepting rainfall. Their root systems improve soil permeability and reduce erosion. In summer, evapotranspiration from tree canopies can lower ambient air temperatures in urban areas by 2–5°C compared to areas without tree cover. Street trees also reduce building energy consumption by shading walls and windows, lowering air conditioning demand by an estimated 10–15% in heavily canopied blocks. Which quotation from the passage would best support the student's argument?

The following text is adapted from a 2022 psychology study summary. A research team investigated whether background music affects reading comprehension. Participants read standardized passages under three conditions: silence, instrumental music, and music with lyrics. Comprehension scores (out of 100) were as follows: | Condition | Mean score | |-------------------|------------| | Silence | 84 | | Instrumental music| 81 | | Music with lyrics | 71 | The researchers concluded that music with lyrics impairs reading comprehension more than instrumental music does. Which finding from the table best supports the researchers' conclusion?

A researcher claims that students who study with spaced repetition perform better on long-term retention tests than students who use massed practice (studying the same material in a single long session). The following table shows data from a 2021 educational psychology experiment. Students studied vocabulary using either massed practice or spaced repetition. They were then tested immediately after studying and one week later. | Study method | Immediate test score | One-week test score | |-------------------|----------------------|---------------------| | Massed practice | 88 | 52 | | Spaced repetition | 78 | 74 | Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researcher's claim?

The following text is adapted from a 2023 essay on workplace wellbeing. Studies on workplace wellbeing consistently find that employees with high autonomy—the ability to determine how, when, and where they work—report greater job satisfaction than those in highly controlled environments. However, a researcher argues that high autonomy without sufficient support structures leads to increased employee burnout, not lower burnout, because employees without clear guidance must expend significant cognitive resources on coordination and decision-making. A student wants to identify the quotation from the passage that best explains why high autonomy might increase burnout even among satisfied employees. Which of the following provides the best evidence?

A marine biologist hypothesizes that coral bleaching is more severe in shallow water reefs than in deeper water reefs during the same heat stress event, because shallow reefs are exposed to higher temperatures and more intense ultraviolet radiation. The following table shows data from a 2022 reef survey conducted during a regional heat stress event. | Reef depth | Mean water temp (°C) | % colonies bleached | |--------------|----------------------|---------------------| | 0–5 m | 31.2 | 78% | | 5–15 m | 29.8 | 47% | | 15–30 m | 28.1 | 22% | Which finding from the table, if true, would most directly support the biologist's hypothesis?

The following text is adapted from a 2021 sociology paper on social mobility. Sociologists studying intergenerational economic mobility have found that the zip code in which a child is raised is among the strongest predictors of their adult income—stronger than their parents' income alone. This has led some researchers to conclude that neighborhood effects (the economic, social, and physical characteristics of the neighborhood itself) are the primary driver of inequality in life outcomes. Other researchers argue that the zip code correlation is largely explained by selective sorting: families with more economic resources choose wealthier neighborhoods, so the zip code correlation reflects parental income effects rather than neighborhood effects per se. A student claims that neighborhood characteristics independently affect children's outcomes, separate from parental income. Which quotation from the passage would best support this claim?

The following table shows the results of a 2022 survey asking 1,000 adults which news sources they considered most credible. | News source type | % rating "very credible" | |----------------------|--------------------------| | National newspapers | 54% | | Local television | 49% | | Online news sites | 31% | | Social media | 12% | A journalist argues that traditional media outlets are significantly more trusted than digital-native news sources. Which finding from the table best supports this argument?

The following text is adapted from a 2023 agricultural science article. Researchers investigated whether cover crops—planted between main crop seasons—reduce soil erosion and improve soil carbon levels. One team argued that the benefits of cover crops are largely offset by the nitrogen they consume, which can reduce yields in subsequent main crops. A second team argued that cover crops improve soil structure and water retention sufficiently to more than compensate for any nitrogen competition. Both teams noted that effects varied significantly across soil types and climates. A student wants to support the claim that cover crops provide net soil benefits despite the nitrogen issue. Which of the following pieces of textual evidence from the passage best supports this claim?