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SAT Evidence Support Practice

Match each claim to the evidence that proves it most directly.

Practice evidence support in Dolphin SATPractice questions
10-16 min practice time3 questions on pageInformation and Ideas
Practice time10-16 min
Question bank3 questions
Best forInformation and Ideas

What this tests

What to know for this SAT skill

Dolphin question bank

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Question 1 of 3Hard

Distribution of Ecosystem Services Affected by Invasive Species by Service Type

Region (Overall)Provisioning (75%)Regulating (21%)Cultural (4%)
West73%27%0%
North88%12%0%
South79%14%7%
East83%6%11%
Central33%67%0%

To assess the impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Africa, Benis N. Egoh and colleagues reviewed government reports from those nations about how invasive species are undermining ecosystem services (aspects of the ecosystem on which residents depend). The services were sorted into three categories: provisioning (material resources from the ecosystem), regulating (natural processes such as cleaning the air or water), and cultural (nonmaterial benefits of ecosystems). Egoh and her team assert that countries in each region reported effects on provisioning services and that provisioning services represent the majority of the reported services.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support Egoh and colleagues’ assertion?
  1. Provisioning services represent 73% of the services reported for the West region and 33% of those for the Central region, but they represent 75% of the services reported overall.
  2. None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%, and the overall percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.
  3. Provisioning services are shown for each region, while no cultural services are shown for some regions.
  4. The greatest percentage shown for provisioning services is 88% for the North region, and the least shown for provisioning services is 33% for the Central region.
Show answer and solution
Correct answerB. None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%, and the overall percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice B is the best answer.
  2. The finding that all the regions reported at least some effects on provisioning services supports the first part of the assertion.
  3. And the fact that provisioning services comprise 75% of the reported services overall supports the second part of the assertion.
Why the other choices miss
Choice A is incorrect. This choice doesn’t fully support the assertion. It doesn’t include the finding that all the regions (not just Central and West) reported at least some effects on provisioning services. Choice C is incorrect. This choice doesn’t fully support the assertion. It doesn’t demonstrate that provisioning services represent the majority of the reported services overall. Choice D is incorrect. This choice doesn’t fully support the assertion. It doesn’t demonstrate that provisioning services represent the majority of the reported services overall.
Question 2 of 3Easy
350300250200150100500Number of submissions2016201720182019Total Science Research Submissions by Topic, 2016–2019Year cellular and molecular biology physics and space science medicine and health animal science
  • The following 4 lines are shown:
    • cellular and molecular biology
    • physics and space science
    • medicine and health
    • animal science
  • The cellular and molecular biology line:
    • Begins at 2016, 200 submissions
    • Rises sharply to 2017, 301 submissions
    • Falls gradually to 2018, 280 submissions
    • Remains level to 2019, 280 submissions
  • The physics and space science line: 
    • Begins at 2016, 96 submissions
    • Falls gradually to 2017, 90 submissions
    • Falls gradually to 2018, 87 submissions
    • Rises gradually to 2019, 99 submissions
  • The medicine and health line:
    • Begins at 2016, 221 submissions
    • Falls gradually to 2017, 220 submissions
    • Rises gradually to 2018, 224 submissions
    • Rises sharply to 2019, 286 submissions
  • The animal science line:
    • Begins at 2016, 50 submissions
    • Remains level to 2017, 50 submissions
    • Remains level to 2018, 50 submissions
    • Rises gradually to 2019, 88 submissions

A student is researching the trends in the topics submitted to a national science fair for high school students. The graph shows the number of submissions by topic that were made each year. Based on the data in the graph, the student claims that there were more medicine and health research topics submitted in 2019 than in any other year.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the underlined claim?
  1. In 2016, the number of cellular and molecular biology topic submissions was the same as the number of animal science topic submissions.
  2. In 2019, there were more physics and space science topic submissions than there were medicine and health topic submissions.
  3. The lowest number of animal science topic submissions in a year was approximately 95 in 2016.
  4. The highest number of medicine and health topic submissions during the period shown is approximately 285 in 2019.
Show answer and solution
Correct answerD. The highest number of medicine and health topic submissions during the period shown is approximately 285 in 2019.

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice D is the best answer because it effectively uses data from the graph to support the underlined claim that more medicine and health topics were submitted to a national science fair in 2019 than in any of the other years shown.
  2. This choice indicates that the approximately 285 medicine and health topics submitted in 2019 are more than the number of medicine and health submissions in any other year shown—a description that is supported by information in the graph, which shows that medicine and health topic submissions were below 250 in 2016, 2017, and 2018, but above 250 (approximately 285 submissions) in 2019.
Why the other choices miss
Choice A is incorrect because it doesn’t support the underlined claim or accurately reflect the information in the graph. This choice refers to 2016 and discusses cellular and molecular biology and animal science, whereas the underlined claim refers to 2019 and discusses medicine and health. Moreover, the claim that in 2016 there were equal numbers of submissions in the cellular and molecular biology category and in the animal science category is contradicted by the graph, which shows approximately 200 submissions and 50 submissions, respectively, for those categories in 2016. Choice B is incorrect because it doesn’t accurately reflect the information in the graph. This choice claims that in 2019 there were more physics and space submissions than there were medicine and health submissions, but the graph shows that there were approximately 100 space and science submissions that year and approximately 285 medicine and health submissions. Choice C is incorrect because it doesn’t accurately reflect the information in the graph or support the underlined claim about medicine and health research topics. This choice claims that there were approximately 95 submissions for the animal science category in 2016, but the graph shows that the number was closer to 50 in 2016.
Question 3 of 3Medium

In 1967 the US Congress created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn created National Public Radio (NPR). NPR began producing and distributing high-quality news and cultural programming to affiliate stations across the United States in 1971. In a research paper, a student claims that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR were inspired by the British Broadcasting System (BBC), which had been established in the 1920s.

Which quotation from a work by a historian would be the most effective evidence for the student to include in support of this claim?
  1. “Although the BBC had begun as a private corporation, politicians successfully argued to make it a public company because they believed a public broadcaster could help build national unity in the aftermath of World War I.”
  2. “For many decades, the BBC had no competition since it held Britain’s only broadcasting license, whereas in the United States, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting launched NPR in a broadcasting market already filled with competitors.”
  3. “Congress’s embrace of publicly funded broadcasting reflected a common belief among US politicians that the role of government was not only to ensure people’s safety and liberty but also to enrich people’s lives in other ways.”
  4. “The goal of the BBC was to support British democracy by promoting an informed citizenry, and US legislators believed that ensuring access to high-quality programming could do the same for democracy in the United States.”
Show answer and solution
Correct answerD. “The goal of the BBC was to support British democracy by promoting an informed citizenry, and US legislators believed that ensuring access to high-quality programming could do the same for democracy in the United States.”

Solution walkthrough

  1. Choice D is the best answer because this quotation would be the most effective evidence to include in support of the claim that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR were inspired by the British Broadcasting System (BBC).
  2. The quotation states that the goal of the BBC was to support British democracy and that US legislators believed high-quality programming could accomplish the same goal for democracy in the United States.
  3. In other words, US legislators looked to the BBC as a model, taking direct inspiration from it when they created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn created NPR.
Why the other choices miss
Choice A is incorrect because this quotation provides historical information about the BBC, not information about the inspiration for the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR. This quotation, therefore, is irrelevant to the student’s claim that the BBC inspired the creation of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn created NPR. Choice B is incorrect because this quotation contrasts the lack of competition faced by the BBC with the substantial competition faced by NPR, which has no bearing on the student’s claim that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR were inspired by the BBC. Choice C is incorrect because this quotation focuses on a common belief among US politicians that inspired Congress’s embrace of publicly funded broadcasting. The quotation doesn’t say anything about the BBC and therefore doesn’t support the claim that the BBC inspired Congress to create the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn created NPR.

Avoid these traps

Common mistakes on this skill

Choosing true information that does not prove the claim

Evidence must directly change the support for the specific claim, not merely relate to the same topic.

Reversing the required comparison

For tables and graphs, verify categories, units, and direction before deciding whether data supports or weakens a claim.

Study plan

How to practice this skill in Dolphin

  1. Rewrite the claim as the exact fact or comparison that evidence must establish.
  2. Evaluate each choice only against that requirement.
  3. For quantitative evidence, cite the relevant values and perform the comparison before choosing.
Practice evidence support in Dolphin SAT

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FAQ

Questions about SAT Evidence Support Practice

What makes evidence strong on the SAT?

It is relevant to the precise claim and supports it more directly than the other choices.

Can evidence be accurate but still be the wrong answer?

Yes. A fact can be true yet irrelevant or insufficient to support the claim being tested.