11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

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Reading and Writing · Command of Evidence: Textual
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: Command of evidence: textual | Lesson
Textual
A guide to "command of evidence: textual" questions on the digital SAT. Created by Corey
Command of Evidence: Kollbocker.
Textual

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Command of evidence:
textual | Lesson

Command of evidence: What are "textual evidence" questions?

textual (literary) — Worked
example
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will
introduce a claim about an unfamiliar subject. The question will then ask you
Command of evidence:
textual (scientific) — to identify the piece of evidence that most strongly supports that claim.
Worked example

Practice: Command of Textual evidence questions will look like this:

evidence: textual

Next lesson
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: EXAMPLE

Jan Gimsa, Robert Sleigh, and Ulrike Gimsa have hypothesized that the sail-
like structure running down the back of the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
improved the animal’s success in underwater pursuits of prey species capable
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of making quick, evasive movements. To evaluate their hypothesis, a second

team of researchers constructed two battery-powered mechanical models of
S. aegyptiacus, one with a sail and one without, and subjected the models to a
series of identical tests in a water-filled tank.

Which finding from the model tests, if true, would most strongly support
Gimsa and colleagues’ hypothesis?

Choose 1 answer:

The model with a sail took significantly longer to travel a specified

A
distance while submerged than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail displaced significantly more water while

B
submerged than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail had significantly less battery power remaining
C
after completing the tests than the model without a sail did.

The model with a sail took significantly less time to complete a sharp
D
turn while submerged than the model without a sail did.

Check

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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

[Answer explanation]

How should we think about textual evidence

questions?
There are two types of textual evidence questions, and we need to think
about each type a little differently.

Scientific evidence
In these textual evidence questions, a hypothesis will be presented about a
subject in science or social science, usually in the context of new research or
experimentation.

We won't need to rely on any previous science knowledge: everything we

need will be contained in the short passage. Our task is to interpret the
researchers' hypothesis, identify the research outcome that would support
that hypothesis, and then select the choice that offers that outcome.

This task should remind you of your science classes, in which you've likely
needed to confirm or refute a hypothesis based on the outcomes of an
experiment.
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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

Literary evidence
In these textual evidence questions, the passage will make an argument
concerning a particular literary work, like a poem or novel. The choices will
then offer a set of quotations from that literary work.

We don't need any previous knowledge of the literary work under discussion.
What we will need is the ability to evaluate whether the content of each
quotation serves as direct evidence for the argument identified in the
question.

This task should remind you of your English classes, in which you've likely
needed to pull quotations from a text to support your arguments in an
analytical essay.

While these two types of questions might seem quite different, the skills we
need to succeed on them, and our approach to finding the answer, should be
quite similar for both.

How to approach textual evidence questions

To solve a textual evidence question, consider following these steps:
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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

Step 1: Identify the argument

Every textual evidence question, whether scientific or literary, will introduce a

central argument for the question. It might be a research hypothesis, or it
might be an interpretation of a literary text, but either way it will be clearly
stated. Your first job is to identify that argument and draw it out from the text.

For instance, in the example question at the start of this article, you can
identify the following hypothesis: "the sail-like structure running down the back
of the dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus improved the animal’s success in
underwater pursuits of prey species capable of making quick, evasive movements".

Step 2: Create a test phrase

Once you've identified the argument you want to support, you should
rephrase that argument in the simplest terms possible.

For example, consider that hypothesis about Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. The

claim is that a sail would help the dinosaur hunt quick prey while underwater.
You could simplify that as follows:

Sail on back = quicker underwater movement

The best choice will make this same argument.

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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

Step 3: Test the choices

Read each choice while keeping your test phrase in mind. Does the choice say
something different than the test phrase? If so, eliminate that choice.

Once you find a choice that makes the same argument as your test phrase,
you've found the answer. You can select that choice with confidence.

Top tips

Stay specific
Don't stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that broaden
or blur the argument you're meant to be supporting. And look out for small
twists and turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually changes the
focus of the argument.

[Show me]

Be strict

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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

Remember, we're looking for the strongest and most direct evidence. If a
choice "almost" or "kind of" feels like evidence, you can likely eliminate it. If
you need to connect too many dots to make the evidence match the
argument, then it's probably not strong evidence.

[Show me]

Your turn
TEXTUAL EVIDENCE: LITERARY

“Mr. Cornelius Johnson, Office-Seeker” is a 1900 short story by Paul Laurence

Dunbar. In the story, the narrator describes Mr. Cornelius Johnson’s
appearance as conveying his exaggerated sense of his importance: ______

Which quotation from “Mr. Cornelius Johnson, Office-Seeker” most

effectively illustrates the claim?

Choose 1 answer:

“He carried himself always as if he were passing under his own

A
triumphal arch.”

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11/14/22, 1:55 PM Command of evidence: textual | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

“The grey Prince Albert was scrupulously buttoned about his form,
B
and a shiny top hat replaced the felt of the afternoon.”

C “Mr. Cornelius Johnson always spoke in a large and important tone.”

“It was a beautiful day in balmy May and the sun shone pleasantly on
D Mr. Cornelius Johnson’s very spruce Prince Albert suit of grey as he
alighted from the train in Washington.”

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[Answer explanation]

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· Command of Evidence: Textual

Command of evidence: textual

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Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: In the 1970s, a roughly 60,000-year-old piece of hyena bone marked with nine notches was
Textual discovered at a site in western France once inhabited by Neanderthals. Although many believe that
only modern humans developed systems for notating numbers, one archaeologist asserts that this
Command of Evidence:
artifact may be a sign that Neanderthals also recorded numerical information. The notches on the
Textual
bone are unevenly spaced but approximately parallel, and microscopic analysis reveals that they were
made with a single stone tool; according to the archaeologist, this suggests that the notches were all
Command of evidence: made at one time by one individual as a means of counting something.
textual | Lesson
Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the underlined claim?

Command of evidence:
Choose 1 answer:
textual (literary) — Worked
example
Parallel lines are a common feature in modern humans’ early systems for recording
A
Command of evidence: numerical information.
textual (scientific) —
Worked example
More than nine approximately parallel notches made with a different stone tool are
B
present on another artifact found at a site in western France.
Practice: Command of
evidence: textual
It would have taken careful effort to make evenly spaced lines on bone with the stone
C
tools typically used by Neanderthals.
Next lesson
Decorative art discovered at another Neanderthal site in western France primarily
D
features patterns of unevenly spaced parallel lines.

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· Command of Evidence: Textual

Command of evidence: textual

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Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: In the 1980s, many musicians and journalists in the English-speaking world began to draw attention to
Textual music from around the globe—such as mbaqanga from South Africa and quan họ from Vietnam—that
can’t be easily categorized according to British or North American popular music genres, typically
Command of Evidence:
referring to such music as “world music.” While some scholars have welcomed this development for
Textual
bringing diverse musical forms to prominence in countries where they’d previously been overlooked,
musicologist Su Zheng claims that the concept of world music homogenizes highly distinct traditions
Command of evidence: by reducing them all to a single category.
textual | Lesson
Which finding about mbaqanga and quan họ, if true, would most directly support Zheng’s claim?

Command of evidence:
Choose 1 answer:
textual (literary) — Worked
example

A Mbaqanga is significantly more popular in the English-speaking world than quan họ is.
Command of evidence:
textual (scientific) —
Worked example Mbaqanga and quan họ developed independently of each other and have little in
B
common musically.
Practice: Command of
evidence: textual
Mbaqanga and quan họ are now performed by a diverse array of musicians with no direct
C
connections to South Africa or Vietnam.

Next lesson
Mbaqanga and quan họ are highly distinct from British and North American popular
D
music genres but similar to each other.

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· Command of Evidence: Textual
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Reading and Writing Command of evidence: textual
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Textual
Command of Evidence: “The Rock and the Sea” is an 1893 poem by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. In the poem, a rock is portrayed
Textual as intending to confront and restrain the sea: ______

Which quotation from “The Rock and the Sea” most effectively illustrates the claim?
Command of evidence:
textual | Lesson
Choose 1 answer:

Command of evidence:
textual (literary) — Worked “I am the Rock. Black midnight falls; / The terrible breakers rise like walls; / With curling
A
example lips and gleaming teeth / They plunge and tear at my bones beneath.”

Command of evidence: “I am the Sea. The earth I sway; / Granite to me is potter’s clay; / Under the touch of my
B
textual (scientific) — careless waves / It rises in turrets and sinks in caves.”
Worked example

“I am the Sea. I hold the land / As one holds an apple in his hand, / Hold it fast with
Practice: Command of C
sleepless eyes, / Watching the continents sink and rise.”
evidence: textual

“I am the Rock, presumptuous Sea! / I am set to encounter thee. / Angry and loud or
D
Next lesson gentle and still, / I am set here to limit thy power, and I will!”

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· Command of Evidence: Textual

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Command of evidence: textual
Reading and Writing Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence:
Textual A researcher conducted an experiment inspired by studies suggesting that people may benefit from
feeling frightened in certain circumstances, such as when watching scary movies or visiting haunted
Command of Evidence:
attractions. The researcher recruited several participants and had them walk through a local haunted
Textual
house attraction. Immediately after exiting the attraction, each participant completed a survey about
their experience. Based on the survey responses, the researcher claims that feeling frightened in
Command of evidence: controlled situations can boost a person’s mood and confidence.
textual | Lesson
Which quotation from a participant would best illustrate the researcher’s claim?

Command of evidence:
Choose 1 answer:
textual (literary) — Worked
example

A “My friends kept laughing as we were walking through the haunted house.”
Command of evidence:
textual (scientific) —
Worked example “The haunted house was scary at first, but I knew everyone was just acting, so I felt less
B
scared after a few minutes.”
Practice: Command of
evidence: textual
“The sense of relief I felt at the end of the haunted house was similar to the feelings I
C
have when I finish a scary movie.”

Next lesson
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D “After I came out of the haunted house, I felt very accomplished and less stressed.”

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Reading and Writing Command of evidence: textual
Information and Ideas
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Command of Evidence:
Textual
Command of Evidence: Pulitzer Prize–winning writer Héctor Tobar has built a multifaceted career as both a journalist and an
Textual author of short stories and novels. In an essay about Tobar’s work, a student claims that Tobar blends
his areas of expertise by applying journalism techniques to his creation of works of fiction.

Command of evidence: Which quotation from a literary critic best supports the student’s claim?
textual | Lesson
Choose 1 answer:
Command of evidence:
textual (literary) — Worked
example “For one novel, an imagined account of a real person’s global travels, Tobar approached
A his subject like a reporter, interviewing people the man had met along the way and
researching the man’s own writings.”
Command of evidence:
textual (scientific) —
Worked example “Tobar got his start as a volunteer for El Tecolote, a community newspaper in San
B Francisco, and wrote for newspapers for years before earning a degree in creative writing
and starting to publish works of fiction.”
Practice: Command of
evidence: textual
“Many of Tobar’s notable nonfiction articles are marked by the writer’s use of techniques
C usually associated with fiction, such as complex narrative structures and the
Next lesson incorporation of symbolism.”

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“The protagonist of Tobar’s third novel is a man who wants to be a novelist and keeps
D notes about interesting people he encounters so he can use them when developing
characters for his stories.”

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Many governments that regularly transfer money to individuals—to provide supplemental

Digital SAT Reading and Writing incomes for senior citizens, for example—have long done so electronically, but other countries
typically have distributed physical money and have only recently developed electronic transfer
infrastructure. Researchers studied the introduction of an electronic transfer system in one such
UNIT 2: LESSON 1 location and found that recipients of electronic transfers consumed a different array of foods
Command of Evidence: Textual than recipients of physical transfers of the same amount did. One potential explanation for this
result is that individuals conceive of and allocate funds in physical money differently than they
conceive of and allocate funds in electronic form.
Command of evidence: textual | Les…
Which finding from the study, if true, would most directly weaken the potential explanation?

Choose 1 answer:
Command of evidence: textual (liter…

Recipients of electronic transfers typically spent their funds at a slower rate than
A
recipients of physical transfers did.
Command of evidence: textual (scie…

Some recipients of physical transfers received small amounts of money relatively

B
frequently, while others received large amounts relatively infrequently.
Command of evidence: textual
75%
Recipients of physical transfers tended to purchase food about as frequently as
C
recipients of electronic transfers did.
Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing
> Information and Ideas > Command of
Nearly every recipient of an electronic transfer withdrew the entire amount in
Evidence: Textual D
physical money shortly after receiving the transfer.

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Digital SAT Reading and Writing

Electra is a circa 420–410 BCE play by Sophocles, translated in 1870 by R.C. Jebb. Electra, who is
in mourning for her dead father and her long-absent brother, is aware of the intensity of her grief
UNIT 2: LESSON 1 but believes it to be justified: ______
Command of Evidence: Textual
Which quotation from Electra most effectively illustrates the claim?

Command of evidence: textual | Les… Choose 1 answer:

“O thou pure sunlight, and thou air, earth’s canopy, how often have ye heard the
Command of evidence: textual (liter… A strains of my lament, the wild blows dealt against this bleeding breast, when dark
night fails!”

Command of evidence: textual (scie… “I know my own passion, it escapes me not; but, seeing that the causes are so dire,
B
will never curb these frenzied plaints, while life is in me.”

Command of evidence: textual

“Send to me my brother; for I have no more the strength to bear up alone against
75% C
the load of grief that weighs me down.”

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing “But never will I cease from dirge and sore lament, while I look on the trembling rays
D
> Information and Ideas > Command of of the bright stars, or on this light of day.”
Evidence: Textual

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Digital SAT Reading and Writing

The Milky Way galaxy is composed of millions of stars in a relatively flat structure containing a
UNIT 2: LESSON 1 thin disk and a thick disk. Based on computer simulations and analysis of data on the brightness,
Command of Evidence: Textual position, and chemical composition of about 250,000 stars in the thick disk (collected from two
telescopes, one in China and one orbiting in space), astrophysicists Maosheng Xiang and Hans-
Walter Rix claim that the thick disk of the Milky Way formed in two distinct phases rather than a
single one.
Command of evidence: textual | Les…
Which finding, if true, would most directly support the researchers’ claim?

Command of evidence: textual (liter… Choose 1 answer:

There’s an age difference of about 2 billion years between certain stars in the thick
A
Command of evidence: textual (scie… disk.

Command of evidence: textual B The stars in the Milky Way tend to have very similar chemical compositions.
75%

The thin disk contains about twice as many stars that can be seen from Earth as the
C
thick disk does.
Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing
> Information and Ideas > Command of
Evidence: Textual The telescopes used by the researchers have detected stars of similar ages in
D
galaxies other than the Milky Way.

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Sense and Sensibility is an 1811 novel by Jane Austen. In the novel, Austen describes Marianne
Digital SAT Reading and Writing Dashwood’s ability to persuade others of the rightness of her artistic judgments, as is evident
when Marianne visits with John Willoughby, a potential suitor: ______

UNIT 2: LESSON 1 Which quotation from Sense and Sensibility most effectively illustrates the claim?
Command of Evidence: Textual
Choose 1 answer:

Command of evidence: textual | Les…

“Above all, when she heard him declare, that of music and dancing he was
A passionately fond, she gave him such a look of approbation as secured the largest
share of his discourse to herself for the rest of his stay.”
Command of evidence: textual (liter…
“Their taste was strikingly alike. The same books, the same passages were idolized
B by each—or if any difference appeared, any objection arose, it lasted no longer than
Command of evidence: textual (scie… till the force of her arguments and the brightness of her eyes could be displayed.”

“It was only necessary to mention any favourite amusement to engage her to talk.
Command of evidence: textual C She could not be silent when such points were introduced, and she had neither
75% shyness nor reserve in their discussion.”

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing “They speedily discovered that their enjoyment of dancing and music was mutual,
and that it arose from a general conformity of judgment in all that related to either.
> Information and Ideas > Command of D
Encouraged by this to a further examination of his opinions, she proceeded to
Evidence: Textual
question him on the subject of books.”

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Hip-hop pedagogy is a form of teaching that’s gaining popularity across school subjects. It
Digital SAT Reading and Writing
involves incorporating hip-hop and rap music into lessons as well as using hip-hop elements
when teaching other subject matters. For example, Quan Neloms’s students look for college-
level vocabulary and historical events in rap songs. Researchers claim that in addition to
UNIT 2: LESSON 1
developing students’ social justice awareness, hip-hop pedagogy encourages student success by
Command of Evidence: Textual
raising students’ interest and engagement.

Which finding, if true, would most strongly support the underlined claim?
Command of evidence: textual | Les…
Choose 1 answer:

Command of evidence: textual (liter…

Courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music are among the courses with the
A
highest enrollment and attendance rates.

Command of evidence: textual (scie…

Educators report that they enjoy teaching courses that involve hip-hop and rap
B
music more than teaching courses that don’t.

Command of evidence: textual

75% Students tend to be more enthusiastic about rap music than they are about hip-hop
C
music.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing

Students who are highly interested in social justice issues typically don’t sign up for
> Information and Ideas > Command of D
courses that incorporate hip-hop and rap music.
Evidence: Textual

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Digital SAT Reading and Writing Several studies of sediment (e.g., dirt, pieces of rock, etc.) in streams have shown an inverse
correlation between sediment grain size and downstream distance from the primary sediment
source, suggesting that stream length has a sorting effect on sediment. In a study of sediment
UNIT 2: LESSON 1 sampled at more than a dozen sites in Alpine streams, however, geologists Camille Litty and Fritz
Command of Evidence: Textual Schlunegger found that cross-site variations in grain size were not associated with differences in
downstream distance, though they did not conclude that downstream distance is irrelevant to
grain size. Rather, they concluded that sediment influx in these streams may have been
sufficiently spatially diffuse to prevent the typical sorting effect from being observed.
Command of evidence: textual | Les…

Which finding about the streams in the study, if true, would most directly support Litty and
Schlunegger’s conclusion?
Command of evidence: textual (liter…
Choose 1 answer:

Command of evidence: textual (scie… The streams contain several types of sediment that are not typically found in
A
streams where the sorting effect has been demonstrated.

Command of evidence: textual

The streams are fed by multiple tributaries that carry significant volumes of
75% B
sediment and that enter the streams downstream of the sampling sites.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing The streams mostly originate from the same source, but their lengths vary
C
> Information and Ideas > Command of considerably due to the different courses they take.
Evidence: Textual
The streams regularly experience portions of their banks collapsing into the water at
D
© 2022 Khan Academy multiple points upstream of the sampling sites.
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Reading and Writing · Command of Evidence: Quantitative
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: Command of evidence: quantitative
Quantitative
Command of Evidence:
| Lesson
Quantitative A guide to "command of evidence: quantitative" questions on the digital SAT. Created by Corey
Kollbocker.
Command of evidence:
quantitative | Lesson Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email

Command of evidence:
Quantitative — Worked
example What are "quantitative evidence" questions?
Practice: Command of On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will provide
evidence: quantitative you with a graph or table that presents information about an unfamiliar topic.
The question will then offer some context for that information and ask you to
Next lesson
complete a sentence by effectively using data from the graph or table.

Quantitative evidence questions will look like this:

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11/14/22, 1:57 PM Command of evidence: quantitative | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

QUANTITATIVE EVIDENCE: EXAMPLE

Urban Population of
Algeria, France, Japan, and Nigeria
100

Percent of population
90
80

living in cities
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020
Year
Algeria
France
Japan
Nigeria

The share of the world’s population living in cities has increased dramatically
since 1970, but this change has not been uniform. France and Japan, for
example, were already heavily urbanized in 1970, with 70% or more of the
population living in cities. The main contributors to the world’s urbanization
since 1970 have been countries like Algeria, whose population went from
______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the
assertion?

Choose 1 answer:

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11/14/22, 1:57 PM Command of evidence: quantitative | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

A less than 20% urban in 1970 to more than 50% urban in 2020.

B less than 40% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

C around 40% urban in 1970 to more than 70% urban in 2020.

D around 50% urban in 1970 to around 90% urban in 2020.

Check

[Answer explanation]

How should we think about quantitative evidence

questions?
The challenges of answering quantitative evidence questions can be split into
three parts. Let's look at each challenge separately.

Understanding the argument

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11/14/22, 1:57 PM Command of evidence: quantitative | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

Every quantitative evidence question will provide more information than we

need. One of the keys to successfully answering these questions is knowing
what data to look for, so we can avoid being distracted by all the extra details
and find the answer more quickly.

The way to do this is by carefully reading the prompt text. This paragraph will
provide the context we need to understand the data in the graph or table. This
paragraph will also outline the argument that our quantitative evidence must
support.

This argument is the most important part of the question. Whichever data we
use to complete the sentence must provide evidence in support of that
argument. In other words: it tells us what to look for.

Reading the data

The data provided in a quantitative evidence question can be presented in a
variety of forms. The question might include a bar graph, a line graph, a table,
or any number of other formats that can be used to visually represent data.

Luckily, you've almost certainly encountered all of these types of data

visualizations in your math and science courses. You can rely on this
experience to help you accurately read graphs and tables on test day.

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Remember, though: graphs and tables will include more data than you need,
which will require you to sift through and read around that extra information.
If you're working quickly, or looking back and forth between the question and
the graph, your eyes can easily drift. Double check that you're looking in the
right place and at the right data.

Evaluating the choices

Quantitative evidence questions will offer two different types of incorrect
choices alongside the correct answer.

1. False statements*
These choices are false according to the information in the graph or table.
They misread or misrepresent data.

2. True statements
These choices are true according to the information in the graph or table. They
accurately represent data, but they fail to provide direct evidence for the
argument being made.

False statements are easy to eliminate. You can simply compare the claim in
the choice to the data in the graph. If those things disagree, you can eliminate
that choice.

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11/14/22, 1:57 PM Command of evidence: quantitative | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

True statements, however, are trickier to handle. Instead of deciding if they're

true or false, you'll need to decide if they support the argument made in the
paragraph. This is why the first challenge of "understanding the argument" is
so important.

*Note: If a question includes false statements among the choices, then all incorrect
choices for that question will be false.

How to approach quantitative evidence questions

To solve a quantitative evidence question, follow these steps:

Step 1: Skim the graph

You don't need to dig into the graph or table yet, as you don't know what data
to look for. However, it can still be useful to familiarize yourself with what the
graph or table contains. You can read the title, the labels, the units, and the
key. Those should give you a good idea of what the graph contains without
taking up too much of your time.

Step 2: Read the paragraph

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The text should be your main focus. It will tell you what data to look for.

Sometimes, like in our example question, the text will explicitly direct you to a
specific piece of information: a certain time, place, or set of conditions that
can be pinpointed within the graph or table. In these cases, you can simply
identify the correct information in the graph or table and/or test the choices
against the provided data.

Other times, the text will present a general argument, and you'll need to select
data that backs up that argument. In these cases, there may be multiple pieces
of information that could potentially serve as evidence, so you won't be able
to just pull the correct data from the graph. The best thing to do here is to
summarize the argument being made in your own words. Then you can test
that summary against each of the choices to see which provides effective
evidence.

Step 3: Validate the choices

As we identified earlier, quantitative evidence choices can contain both true

statements and false statements.

Read the choices and check them against the information in the graph. Are the
choices true or false?

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11/14/22, 1:57 PM Command of evidence: quantitative | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

If they're false, eliminate the false choices.

If they're true, proceed to step 4.

Step 4: Find the best evidence

Once you've validated the choices, you should have eliminated any statements
that are false according to the graph or table. This leaves you with choices that
are true, but that may not provide effective evidence for the argument in the text.

Take your summary of the argument and test it against each remaining choice.
Only one choice will provide direct support for that argument. You can select
this choice with confidence.

Top tips

Use your finger/cursor

When you're looking at a graph or table that contains multiple data points,
your eyes can easily drift. Placing your finger or your cursor directly on the
information you're looking for can help you avoid silly mistakes due to looking
in the wrong place.

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Command of evidence: quantitative

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Participants' Responses to Three

Review Conditions

(1-9; higher values = more positive)

Participants' mean rating 7
6
5
4
3
Test prep Digital SAT 2
Reading and Writing 1
Information and Ideas 0
Command of Evidence: Helpfulness Attitude toward
Quantitative of review review subject

Command of Evidence: no anger (control)

Quantitative
high anger
low anger
Command of evidence:
quantitative | Lesson
To understand how expressions of anger in reviews of products affect readers of those reviews,
Command of evidence: business scholar Dezhi Yin and colleagues measured study participants’ responses to three versions of
Quantitative — Worked the same negative review—a control review expressing no anger, a review expressing a high degree of
example anger, and a review expressing a low degree of anger. Reviewing the data, a student concludes that

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Practice: Command of the mere presence of anger in a review may not negatively affect readers’ perceptions of the review,
evidence: quantitative but a high degree of anger in a review does worsen readers’ perceptions of the review.

Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the student’s conclusion?
Next lesson
Choose 1 answer:

On average, participants’ ratings of the helpfulness of the review were substantially

A higher than were participants’ ratings of the reviewed product regardless of which type of
review participants had seen.

Compared with participants who saw the control review, participants who saw the low-
B anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful, whereas participants who saw the
high-anger review rated the review as less helpful.

Participants who saw the low-anger review rated the review as slightly more helpful than
participants who saw the control review did, but participants’ attitude toward the
C
reviewed product was slightly worse when participants saw the low-anger review than
when they saw the no-anger review.

Compared with participants who saw the low-anger review, participants who saw the
D high-anger review rated the review as less helpful and had a less positive attitude toward
the reviewed product.

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Tadpole Body Mass and Toxin Production after Three Weeks in Ponds
Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing Population Average Average number Average amount Average
Information and Ideas density tadpole body of distinct of bufadienolide bufadienolide
Command of Evidence: mass bufadienolide per tadpole concentration
(milligrams) toxins per tadpole (nanograms) (nanograms per
Quantitative
milligram of tadpole
Command of Evidence: body mass)
Quantitative
High 193.87 22.69 5,815.51 374.22

Command of evidence:
Medium 254.56 21.65 5,525.72 230.10
quantitative | Lesson Low 258.97 22.08 4,664.99 171.43

Command of evidence: Ecologist Veronika Bókony and colleagues investigated within-species competition among common
Quantitative — Worked toads (Bufo bufo), a species that secretes various unpleasant-tasting toxins called bufadienolides in
example response to threats. The researchers tested B. bufo tadpoles’ responses to different levels of
competition by creating ponds with different tadpole population densities but a fixed amount of food.
Practice: Command of Based on analysis of the tadpoles after three weeks, the researchers concluded that increased
evidence: quantitative competition drove bufadienolide production at the expense of growth.

Which choice uses data from the table to most effectively support the researchers’ conclusion?
Next lesson
Choose 1 answer:

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12/5/22, 8:14 PM Command of evidence: quantitative (practice) | Khan Academy
The difference in average tadpole body mass was small between the low and medium
A
population density conditions and substantially larger between the low and high
population density conditions.

Tadpoles in the low and medium population density conditions had substantially lower
B average bufadienolide concentrations but had greater average body masses than those in
the high population density condition.

Tadpoles in the high population density condition displayed a relatively modest increase
C in the average amount of bufadienolide but roughly double the average bufadienolide
concentration compared to those in the low population density condition.

Tadpoles produced approximately the same number of different bufadienolide toxins per
D individual across the population density conditions, but average tadpole body mass
decreased as population density increased.

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Test prep · Digital SAT Reading and Writing · Information and Ideas
· Command of Evidence: Quantitative

Test prep Digital SAT

Command of evidence: quantitative
Reading and Writing Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence:
Comfort Ratings and Temperature-Adjustment Preferences from One Survey
Quantitative
Command of Evidence:
Quantitative Participant Comfort rating Preferred temperature adjustment

20 −2 Cooler

Command of evidence: 1 1 Cooler

quantitative | Lesson
21 1 Cooler

Command of evidence:
Quantitative — Worked Nan Gao and her team conducted multiple surveys to determine participants’ levels of comfort in a
example room where the temperature was regulated by a commercial climate control system. Participants filled
out surveys several times a day to indicate their level of comfort on a scale from −3 (very cold) to +3
(very hot), with 0 indicating neutral (neither warm nor cool), and to indicate how they would prefer
Practice: Command of the temperature to be adjusted. The table shows three participants’ responses in one of the surveys.
evidence: quantitative According to the table, all three participants wanted the room to be cooler, ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Next lesson
Choose 1 answer:

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11/27/22, 12:56 PM Command of evidence: quantitative (practice) | Khan Academy

and they each reported the same level of comfort.

A

B even though each participant’s ratings varied throughout the day.

but participant 20 reported feeling significantly colder than the other two participants
C
did.

D but participant 1 reported feeling warmer than the other two participants did.

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· Command of Evidence: Quantitative

Command of evidence: quantitative

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Distribution of Ecosystem Services Affected by Invasive Species by Service Type

Region (Overall) Provisioning (75%) Regulating (21%) Cultural (4%)

West 73% 27% 0%

North 88% 12% 0%
South 79% 14% 7%
Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing East 83% 6% 11%
Information and Ideas
Central 33% 67% 0%
Command of Evidence:
Quantitative
To assess the impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Africa, Benis N. Egoh and colleagues
Command of Evidence: reviewed government reports from those nations about how invasive species are undermining
Quantitative 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
Command of evidence:
and her team assert that countries in each region reported effects on provisioning services and that
quantitative | Lesson
provisioning services represent the majority of the reported services.

Command of evidence: Which choice best describes data from the table that support Egoh and colleagues’ assertion?
Q tit ti W k d
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Quantitative — Worked Choose 1 answer:
example

Provisioning services represent 73% of the services reported for the West region and
Practice: Command of A 33% of those for the Central region, but they represent 75% of the services reported
evidence: quantitative
overall.

Next lesson None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%, and the
B
overall percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.

Provisioning services are shown for each region, while no cultural services are shown for
C
some regions.

The greatest percentage shown for provisioning services is 88% for the North region, and
D
the least shown for provisioning services is 33% for the Central region.

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Test prep · Digital SAT Reading and Writing · Information and Ideas
· Command of Evidence: Quantitative
Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing Command of evidence: quantitative
Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Quantitative
Command of Evidence:
Average Nitrate and Phosphate Concentrations in Seawater after Volcanic Eruption
Quantitative

Nutrient Seawater in Seawater in lava- Seawater outside Seawater outside

Command of evidence: lava-affected affected area, of lava-affected of lava-affected
quantitative | Lesson area, 5 − 45 75 − 125 area, 5 − 45 area, 7 − 125
meters below meters below meters below meters below
Command of evidence: surface surface surface surface
Quantitative — Worked Nitrate 3.1 0.4 ≤ 0.03 ≤ 0.01
example
(micromoles
per liter)
Practice: Command of
evidence: quantitative
Phosphate 0.17 0.09 0.14 0.06
(micromoles
per liter)

Next lesson
After a volcanic eruption spilled lava into North Pacific Ocean waters, a dramatic increase of diatoms
(a kind of phytoplankton) near the surface occurred. Scientists assumed the diatoms were thriving on
nutrients such as phosphate from the lava, but analysis showed these nutrients weren’t present near
the surface in forms diatoms can consume. However, there was an abundance of usable nitrate, a
nutrient usually found in much deeper water and almost never found in lava. Microbial oceanographer

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11/27/22, 1:01 PM Command of evidence: quantitative (practice) | Khan Academy

Sonya Dyhrman and colleagues believe that as the lava plunged nearly 300 meters below the surface
it dislodged pockets of this nutrient, releasing it to float upward, given that ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

Choose 1 answer:

at 5–45 meters below the surface, the average concentration of phosphate was about
A the same in the seawater in the lava-affected area as in the seawater outside of the lava-
affected area.

for both depth ranges measured, the average concentrations of nitrate were substantially
B higher in the seawater in the lava-affected area than in the seawater outside of the lava-
affected area.

for both depth ranges measured in the seawater in the lava-affected area, the average
C concentrations of nitrate were substantially higher than the average concentrations of
phosphate.

in the seawater outside of the lava-affected area, there was little change in the average
D concentration of nitrate from 75–125 meters below the surface to 5–45 meters below
the surface.

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· Command of Evidence: Quantitative

Command of evidence: quantitative

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Investigative Articles
Published in the Albuquerque
Journal from 2010 to 2019
1750
Number of articles

1500
1250
1000
750
500
250
0
20 0
20 1
20 2
20 3
20 4
20 5
20 6
20 7
20 8
19
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
20

Total
Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas Investigative journalists research and report about fraud, corruption, public hazards, and more. The
graph shows the number of investigative articles published in the Albuquerque Journal newspaper
Command of Evidence:
from 2010 to 2019. According to an analyst, although the number of investigative articles published
Quantitative in this newspaper has varied significantly over the period shown, the number overall has fallen since
Command of Evidence: 2010.
Quantitative
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to justify the underlined claim?
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Choose 1 answer:
Command of evidence:
quantitative | Lesson
The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and
A
approximately 500 in 2019.
Command of evidence:
Quantitative — Worked
example
The smallest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during
B
the period shown is approximately 1,600 in 2013.
Practice: Command of
evidence: quantitative
The greatest annual number of investigative articles published in the newspaper during
C
the period shown is approximately 1,000 in 2017.

Next lesson
The newspaper published approximately 1,000 investigative articles in 2010 and
D
approximately 1,600 in 2013.

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Density 0.8592 0.7308 0.7447

Digital SAT Reading and Writing Velocity −0.9357 −0.9518 −0.8587

Researcher Xiaolu Jia and colleagues monitored individuals’ velocity and the surrounding crowd
UNIT 2: LESSON 2
density as a group of study participants walked through a space and navigated around an
Command of Evidence: Quantitative obstacle. Participants rated how congested it seemed before the obstacle, after the obstacle, and
overall, and the researchers correlated those ratings with velocity and density. (Correlations
range from −1 to 1, with greater distance from 0 indicating greater strength). The researchers
Command of evidence: quantitative… concluded that the correlations with velocity are stronger than those with density.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers’ conclusion?

Command of evidence: Quantitativ…

Choose 1 answer:

Command of evidence: quantitative The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and density is
50% A further from 0 than the correlation between overall congestion rating and velocity
is.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing

The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and velocity is
> Information and Ideas > Command of B
further from 0 than the correlation between congestion overall and velocity is.
Evidence: Quantitative

For each of the three ratings, the correlation with velocity is negative while the
C
© 2022 Khan Academy correlation with density is positive.
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For each of the three ratings, correlations with velocity are further from 0 than the
D
corresponding correlations with density are.

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Test prep Digital SAT Test prep · Digital SAT Reading and Writing · Information and Ideas
Reading and Writing · Central Ideas and Details
Information and Ideas
Central Ideas and Details Central ideas and details | Lesson
Central Ideas and Details A guide to "central ideas and details" questions on the digital SAT. Created by Corey Kollbocker.

Central ideas and details |

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Lesson

Central Ideas and Details

— Worked example What are "central ideas and details" questions?
Practice: Central ideas and On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will present
details
a short passage for you to read. The passage may be excerpted from a work of
literature or from a scholarly essay.
Next lesson
Inferences
Once you read the passage, you'll be asked either to identify the main idea of
the text or to answer a specific question based on the text.

Central ideas and details questions will look like this:

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11/14/22, 1:59 PM Central ideas and details | Lesson (article) | Khan Academy

CENTRAL IDEAS AND DETAILS: EXAMPLE

Many intellectual histories of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and
1970s rely heavily on essays and other explicitly ideological works as primary
sources, a tendency that can overrepresent the perspectives of a small
number of thinkers, most of whom were male. Historian Ashley D. Farmer has
shown that expanding the array of primary sources to encompass more types
of print material—including political cartoons, advertisements, and artwork—
leads to a much better understanding of the movement and the crucial and
diverse roles that Black women played in shaping it.

Which choice best describes the main idea of the text?

Choose 1 answer:

Before Farmer’s research, historians had largely ignored the

A
intellectual dimensions of the Black Power movement.

Farmer’s methods and research have enriched the historical

B understanding of the Black Power movement and Black women’s
contributions to it.

Other historians of the Black Power movement have criticized

C
Farmer’s use of unconventional primary sources.

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The figures in the Black Power movement whom historians tend to

D
cite would have agreed with Farmer’s conclusions about women’s
roles in the movement.

Check

[Answer explanation]

How should we think about central ideas and

details questions?
Central ideas and details questions focus on reading comprehension, and they
do so in a fairly straightforward way.

We won't need any outside knowledge. We won't need to analyze the text too
deeply or do any complex reasoning. We'll simply need to read the passage
carefully.

Central ideas

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Central ideas questions ask us to identify "the main idea" of the passage. Since
the passages for these questions are fairly short, finding this main idea
shouldn't be too tricky.

The main idea should

cover a majority of the details introduced in the text.

mention any particular points of emphasis from the text.

The main idea should not

focus too intently on just one detail from the text.

introduce new ideas not addressed within the text.
contradict information from the text.

Details
Details questions ask us to answer a specific question about an idea contained
in the passage. Details questions can usually be answered using information
from one particular sentence in the text.

These questions will contain words, phrases, or ideas that direct us to the
appropriate part of the text. Once there, we simply need to find the correct
detail needed to answer the question.

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How to approach central ideas and details

questions
To solve a central ideas and details question, consider following these steps:

Step 1: Summarize the text in your own words

Don't just skim the passage. Read it closely, and try to summarize the ideas
you encounter in your own words. By the time you finish reading, you should
have a strong understanding of the information contained in the passage.

Step 2: Determine the task

The question that follows the passage will reveal your task. Does it ask about
the "main idea"? Or does it ask about a particular piece of information?

Step 3: Revisit the text

If the question is about the main idea, then revisit your summary of the text to
find the overarching theme.

If the question asks about something specific, then head to that section of the
passage to search out the correct detail.

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Step 4: Predict and eliminate

Based on your understanding of the passage, you should be able to answer to

the question fairly accurately without even looking at the choices. If someone
asked you to summarize the text, what would you say?

For instance, in the example question above, we might predict that the main
idea is something like

"Ashley D. Farmer has improved the study of the Black Power

movement by exploring the roles of women."

Once you predict the answer in your own words, it should be pretty easy to
find a match among the choices. If you're still not sure, you can eliminate your
way to the answer by getting rid of choices that contradict the passage or
introduce new ideas.

Top tips

Stay specific

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Don't stray beyond the focus of the passage. Eliminate choices that broaden
or blur the ideas in discussed in the text. And look out for small twists and
turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually expresses something
unsupported by the passage.

[Show me]

Keep your prediction as short and simple as possible

If your prediction is just as long as the passage itself, it’s not simple enough!
Keep simplifying it until you can sum it up in one brief idea, then use that
prediction as a test. The more concise your prediction, the quicker and easier
it will be to check it against the choices.

Use keywords as a map

When a question asks about a detail from the passage, it will often do so by
referencing key words and phrases from the text. Find those words in the
passage: they'll direct you towards the answer you seek!

Your turn
CENTRAL IDEAS AND DETAILS

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The following text is adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1883 novel
Treasure Island. Bill is a sailor staying at the Admiral Benbow, an inn run by the
narrator’s parents.

Every day when [Bill] came back from his stroll he would ask if any seafaring
men had gone by along the road. At first we thought it was the want of
company of his own kind that made him ask this question, but at last we
began to see he was desirous to avoid them. When a seaman did [stay] at the
Admiral Benbow (as now and then some did) he would look in at him through
the curtained door before he entered the parlour; and he was always sure to
be as silent as a mouse when any such was present.

According to the text, why does Bill regularly ask about “seafaring men”?

Choose 1 answer:

A He isn’t sure that other guests at the inn will be welcoming of sailors.

B He’s trying to secure a job as part of the crew on a new ship.

C He’s hoping to find an old friend and fellow sailor.

D He doesn’t want to encounter any other sailor unexpectedly.

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Central Ideas and Details
The following text is from Edith Nesbit’s 1902 novel Five Children and It. Five young siblings have just
Central Ideas and Details moved with their parents from London to a house in the countryside that they call the White House.

It was not really a pretty house at all; it was quite ordinary, and mother thought it was rather
Central ideas and details |
inconvenient, and was quite annoyed at there being no shelves, to speak of, and hardly a cupboard in
Lesson
the place. Father used to say that the ironwork on the roof and coping was like an architect’s
nightmare. But the house was deep in the country, with no other house in sight, and the children had
Central Ideas and Details been in London for two years, without so much as once going to the seaside even for a day by an
— Worked example excursion train, and so the White House seemed to them a sort of Fairy Palace set down in an Earthly
Paradise.

Practice: Central ideas and

details Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Choose 1 answer:
Next lesson
Inferences
A The house is beautiful and well built, but the children miss their old home in London.

B The children don’t like the house nearly as much as their parents do.

C Each member of the family admires a different characteristic of the house.

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Although their parents believe the house has several drawbacks, the children are
D
enchanted by it.

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Central Ideas and Details
Disco remains one of the most ridiculed popular music genres of the late twentieth century. But as
Central Ideas and Details
scholars have argued, the genre is far less superficial than many people believe. Take the case of disco
icon Donna Summer: she may have been associated with popular songs about love and heartbreak
Central ideas and details | (subjects hardly unique to disco, by the way), but like many Black women singers before her, much of
Lesson her music also reflects concerns about community and identity. These concerns are present in many
of the genre’s greatest songs, and they generally don’t require much digging to reveal.

Central Ideas and Details

What does the text most strongly suggest about the disco genre?
— Worked example

Choose 1 answer:
Practice: Central ideas and
details
It gave rise to a Black women’s musical tradition that has endured even though the genre
A
itself faded in the late twentieth century.
Next lesson
Inferences It has been unjustly ignored by most scholars despite the importance of the themes
B
addressed by many of the genre’s songs.

It has been unfairly dismissed for the inclusion of subject matter that is also found in
C
other musical genres.

It evolved over time from a superficial genre focused on romance to a genre focused on
D
more serious concerns.

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Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas
Central Ideas and Details In 2022, researchers rediscovered ancient indigenous glyphs, or drawings, on the walls of a cave in
Alabama. The cave’s ceiling was only a few feet high, affording no position from which the glyphs,
Central Ideas and Details
being as wide as ten feet, could be viewed or photographed in their entirety. However, the
researchers used a technique called photogrammetry to assemble numerous photos of the walls into a
Central ideas and details | 3D model. They then worked with representatives of tribes originally from the region, including the
Lesson Chickasaw Nation, to understand the significance of the animal and humanoid figures adorning the
cave.

Central Ideas and Details According to the text, what challenge did the researchers have to overcome to examine the glyphs?
— Worked example
Choose 1 answer:
Practice: Central ideas and
details
A The cave was so remote that the researchers couldn’t easily reach it.

Next lesson
Inferences B Some of the glyphs were so faint that they couldn’t be photographed.

C The cave’s dimensions prevented the researchers from fully viewing the glyphs.

D The researchers were unable to create a 3D model of the cave.

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Central Ideas and Details
In many of his sculptures, artist Richard Hunt uses broad forms rather than extreme accuracy to hint
Central ideas and details | at specific people or ideas. In his first major work, Arachne (1956), Hunt constructed the mythical
Lesson character Arachne, a weaver who was changed into a spider, by welding bits of steel together into
something that, although vaguely human, is strange and machine-like. And his large bronze sculpture
The Light of Truth (2021) commemorates activist and journalist Ida B. Wells using mainly flowing,
Central Ideas and Details curved pieces of metal that create stylized flame.
— Worked example
Which choice best states the text’s main idea about Hunt?
Practice: Central ideas and
details Choose 1 answer:

Next lesson A He often depicts the subjects of his sculptures using an unrealistic style.
Inferences

He uses different kinds of materials depending on what kind of sculpture he plans to

B
create.

C He tends to base his art on important historical figures rather than on fictional characters.

He has altered his approach to sculpture over time, and his works have become
D
increasingly abstract.

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Reading and Writing The following text is adapted from María Cristina Mena’s 1914 short story “The Vine-Leaf.”
Information and Ideas
Central Ideas and Details It is a saying in the capital of Mexico that Dr. Malsufrido carries more family secrets under his hat than
any archbishop. The doctor’s hat is, appropriately enough, uncommonly capacious, rising very high,
Central Ideas and Details
and sinking so low that it seems to be supported by his ears and eyebrows, and it has a furry look, as
if it had been brushed the wrong way, which is perhaps what happens to it if it is ever brushed at all.
Central ideas and details | When the doctor takes it off, the family secrets do not fly out like a flock of parrots, but remain nicely
Lesson bottled up beneath a dome of old and highly polished ivory.

Based on the text, how do people in the capital of Mexico most likely regard Dr. Malsufrido?
Central Ideas and Details
— Worked example
Choose 1 answer:

Practice: Central ideas and

details A Few feel concerned that he will divulge their confidences.

Next lesson B Many have come to tolerate him despite his disheveled appearance.
Inferences

C Most would be unimpressed by him were it not for his professional expertise.

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D Some dislike how freely he discusses his own family.

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Artist Justin Favela explained that he wanted to reclaim the importance of the piñata as a symbol in
Central Ideas and Details Latinx culture. To do so, he created numerous sculptures from strips of tissue paper, which is similar
to the material used to create piñatas. In 2017, Favela created an impressive life-size piñata-like
sculpture of the Gypsy Rose lowrider car, which was displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum
Central ideas and details |
Lesson in Los Angeles, California. The Gypsy Rose lowrider was famously driven by Jesse Valadez, an early
president of the Los Angeles Imperials Car Club.

Central Ideas and Details According to the text, which piece of Favela’s art was on display in the Petersen Automotive Museum
— Worked example in 2017?

Practice: Central ideas and Choose 1 answer:

details

A A painting of Los Angeles

Next lesson
Inferences
B A painting of a piñata

C A sculpture of Jesse Valadez

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D A sculpture of a lowrider car

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In a study of new technology adoption, Davit Marikyan et al. examined negative disconfirmation
Digital SAT Reading and Writing (which occurs when experiences fall short of one’s expectations) to determine whether it could
lead to positive outcomes for users. The team focused on established users of “smart home”
technology, which presents inherent utilization challenges but tends to attract users with high
UNIT 2: LESSON 3 expectations, often leading to feelings of dissonance. The researchers found that many users
Central Ideas and Details employed cognitive mechanisms to mitigate those feelings, ultimately reversing their initial sense
of disappointment.

Central ideas and details | Lesson Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Choose 1 answer:

Central Ideas and Details — Worke…

Research suggests that users with high expectations for a new technology can feel
A
content with that technology even after experiencing negative disconfirmation.
Central ideas and details
100%
Research suggests that most users of smart home technology will not achieve a
B
feeling of satisfaction given the utilization challenges of such technology.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing

> Information and Ideas > Central Ideas and Although most smart home technology is aimed at meeting or exceeding users’ high
C
Details expectations, those expectations in general remain poorly understood.

Although negative disconfirmation has often been studied, little is known about the
© 2022 Khan Academy
D cognitive mechanisms shaping users’ reactions to it in the context of new
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NASA’s Cassini probe has detected an unusual wobble in the rotation of Mimas, Saturn’s smallest
Digital SAT Reading and Writing moon. Using a computer model to study Mimas’s gravitational interactions with Saturn and tidal
forces, geophysicist Alyssa Rhoden and colleagues have proposed that this wobble could be due
to a liquid ocean moving beneath the moon’s icy surface. The researchers believe other moons
UNIT 2: LESSON 3
should be examined to see if they too might have oceans hidden beneath their surfaces.
Central Ideas and Details
Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

Central ideas and details | Lesson

Choose 1 answer:

Rhoden and colleagues were the first to confirm that several of Saturn’s moons
Central Ideas and Details — Worke… A
contain hidden oceans.

Central ideas and details Research has failed to identify signs that there is an ocean hidden beneath the
B
100% surface of Mimas.

Rhoden and colleagues created a new computer model that identifies moons with
Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing C
hidden oceans without needing to analyze the moons’ rotation.
> Information and Ideas > Central Ideas and
Details
Research has revealed that an oddity in the rotation of Mimas could be explained by
D
an ocean hidden beneath its surface.
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Central ideas and details | To protect themselves when being attacked, hagfish—jawless marine animals that resemble eels—will
Lesson release large quantities of slimy, mucus-like threads. Because these threads are unusually strong and
elastic, scientist Atsuko Negishi and her colleagues have been trying to recreate them in a lab as an
eco-friendly alternative to petroleum-based fibers that are often used in fabrics. The researchers want
Central Ideas and Details
to reproduce the threads in the lab because farming hagfish for their slime would be expensive and
— Worked example
potentially harmful to the hagfish.

Practice: Central ideas and Which choice best states the text’s main idea?
details
Choose 1 answer:

Next lesson
Inferences A Hagfish are not well suited to being raised in captivity.

B The ability of hagfish to slime their attackers compensates for their being jawless.

C Hagfish have inspired researchers to develop a new petroleum-based fabric.

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The slimy threads that hagfish release might help researchers create a new kind of fabric.
D

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The ice melted on a Norwegian mountain during a particularly warm summer in 2019, revealing a
Test prep Digital SAT 1,700-year-old sandal to a mountaineer looking for artifacts. The sandal would normally have
Reading and Writing degraded quickly, but it was instead well preserved for centuries by the surrounding ice. According to
Information and Ideas archaeologist Espen Finstad and his team, the sandal, like those worn by imperial Romans, wouldn’t
have offered any protection from the cold in the mountains, so some kind of insulation, like fabric or
Central Ideas and Details
animal skin, would have needed to be worn on the feet with the sandal.
Central Ideas and Details
What does the text indicate about the discovery of the sandal?

Central ideas and details |

Lesson Choose 1 answer:

Central Ideas and Details The discovery revealed that the Roman Empire had more influence on Norway than
A
— Worked example archaeologists previously assumed.

Practice: Central ideas and B The sandal would have degraded if it hadn’t been removed from the ice.
details

Next lesson C Temperatures contributed to both protecting and revealing the sandal.

Inferences

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Archaeologists would have found the sandal eventually without help from the general
D
public.

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Information and Ideas Inferences | Lesson
Inferences
A guide to "inferences" questions on the digital SAT. Created by Corey Kollbocker.
Inferences

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Inferences | Lesson

Inferences — Worked
example What are "inferences" questions?
On the Reading and Writing section of your SAT, some questions will provide
Practice: Inferences
an unfinished passage that introduces information about an unfamiliar topic.
Based on that information, you'll be asked to select the choice that most
logically completes the text.

Inferences questions will look like this:

INFERENCES: EXAMPLE

Adaptations to cold temperatures have high metabolic costs. It is expensive,

in terms of energy use, for land plants and animals to withstand very cold
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temperatures, and it gets more expensive the colder it gets, which means that
the lower the air temperature, the fewer species have evolved to survive it.
This factor, in conjunction with the decline in air temperature with increasing
elevation, explains the distribution of species diversity in mountain
ecosystems: you find fewer species high up a mountain than at the mountain’s
base because ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:

there are relatively few environments hospitable to species that are

A
adapted to live in low air temperatures.

there are relatively few species with the adaptations necessary to

B
tolerate the temperatures at high elevations.

adaptations that allow plants and animals to survive in rocky

C
environments are metabolically costly.

some mountain environments are at elevations so high that no plants

D
or animals can survive them.

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[Answer explanation]

How should we think about inferences questions?

Inferences questions are all about how we connect information and ideas to
create arguments.

We can break arguments into two basic parts: premises and conclusions.

Premises are the facts on which an argument is based. When premises

are connected, they should provide strong evidence for the argument's
conclusion.

The conclusion is the heart of the argument. It's the overall claim that
the argument's author is trying to support.

[Example]

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11/14/22, 2:00 PM Inferences | Lesson (article) | Inferences | Khan Academy

Sometimes, an inferences passage will present a set of premises, and your task
will be to determine the appropriate conclusion. Other times, an inferences
passage will include the conclusion, and your task will be to identify a gap in
the premises that must be filled.

Either way, the basic task is the same: you need to identify what is missing
from the argument, and fill that gap with one of the choices.

How to approach inferences questions

To solve an inferences question, consider following these steps:

Step 1: Separate the text into bullet points

Everything you need to successfully answer an inferences question is

contained within the provided passage. Therefore, to find the answer, you'll
need to read closely and carefully consider the information contained in the
text.

A great way to do this is to take each idea in the passage and turn it into its
own bullet point. This will create a step by step progression for the argument

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being made and allow you to see where any gaps might exist.

Step 2: Examine the argument

Consider each piece of information offered in the passage. Then consider how
those pieces fit together. Do they add up to something? What's the
connection between them?

Each inferences question is like a mystery. Everything you need to solve that
mystery is provided for you. You just need to be a detective and piece the
clues together!

By the end of this step, you should have a solid understanding of the
argument being made. This should give you some idea of what might fit in the
blank. At the very least, you'll be better prepared to recognize what doesn't fit
in the blank.

Step 3: Explore the choices

Look at the choices one by one. Ask yourself if the information contained in
the choice completes the argument in the passage.

Be wary of choices that broaden the discussion or introduce ideas not

explicitly mentioned in the rest of the passage. The arguments made in
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inferences passages are often highly specific. Eliminate any choices that stray
from or disagree with the points made in the passage.

Step 4: Select the choice that strengthens the argument

The choice you select should fit in fairly obviously with the information
provided in the passage. But even further, the choice you select, when
combined with the rest of the passage, should make the argument both clearer
and stronger. Once you find such a choice, you can select it with confidence!

Top tips

Stay specific
Don't stray beyond what can be inferred. Be cautious with words like "most"
or "many" when a passage only discusses one thing in particular. And look out
for small twists and turns that make a choice seem relevant when it actually
changes the focus of the argument.

[Show me]

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11/14/22, 2:00 PM Inferences | Lesson (article) | Inferences | Khan Academy

Lean on transitions
Pay close attention to the transition words used throughout an inferences
passage. These transitions will show you how the ideas in the passage are
related. In particular, the transition words used before the blank at the end of
the passage will provide a useful clue to what information you're looking for.

[Show me]

Let the punctuation help

Similar to transitions, punctuation marks give shape to the ideas in the
passage and show how those details are connected. Colons, semicolons, and
dashes can all be used to inject conclusions, examples, and exceptions. Take a
closer look at these punctuation marks to see what type of information they
signal within the text.

Your turn!
INFERENCES

Many animals, including humans, must sleep, and sleep is known to have a
role in everything from healing injuries to encoding information in long-term
memory. But some scientists claim that, from an evolutionary standpoint,
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11/14/22, 2:00 PM Inferences | Lesson (article) | Inferences | Khan Academy

deep sleep for hours at a time leaves an animal so vulnerable that the known
benefits of sleeping seem insufficient to explain why it became so widespread
in the animal kingdom. These scientists therefore imply that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:

it is more important to understand how widespread prolonged deep

A
sleep is than to understand its function.

prolonged deep sleep is likely advantageous in ways that have yet to

B
be discovered.

many traits that provide significant benefits for an animal also likely
C
pose risks to that animal.

most traits perform functions that are hard to understand from an

D
evolutionary standpoint.

[Answer explanation]

Check

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11/14/22, 2:00 PM Inferences | Lesson (article) | Inferences | Khan Academy

INFERENCES

Companies whose products are similar to competing products often pursue a

marketing strategy of brand differentiation, trying to get consumers to
associate their brand with unique attributes (e.g., to think of their brand of
rice as the healthy brand, when in fact there is little difference among brands
of the same type of rice). Jaywant Singh and Francesca Dall’Olmo Riley
investigated consumer perceptions of such products, finding that consumers
view competing brands as having largely the same attributes and that any
differences in the strength of consumers’ associations of brands with
attributes are explained by differences in market share—the more popular a
brand is, the stronger people’s associations with it are—suggesting that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:

consumers tend to perceive products with high market share more

A
positively than they perceive products with low market share.

marketing aimed at brand differentiation influences consumers’

B perceptions of branded products but not consumers’ purchasing
behavior.

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11/14/22, 2:00 PM Inferences | Lesson (article) | Inferences | Khan Academy

C marketing efforts focused on brand differentiation do not have much

effect on consumers’ perceptions of branded products’ attributes.

differences in consumers’ perceptions of products’ attributes are less

D influenced by brand differentiation than by actual differences
between products.

[Answer explanation]

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Test prep · Digital SAT Reading and Writing · Information and Ideas · Inferences

Inferences
Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Information and Ideas
Inferences In many cultures, a handshake can create trust between people. Engineer João Avelino and his team
Inferences are designing a robot to shake hands with a human in order to improve human-robot interactions. The
robot hand adjusts its movements and pressure to better imitate the feel of a human hand. The
researchers want the robot’s handshake to feel realistic because ______
Inferences | Lesson
Which choice most logically completes the text?

Inferences — Worked
Choose 1 answer:
example

Practice: Inferences A people are less likely to interact with robots that don’t look like humans.

it’s easier to program a robot to perform handshakes than it is to program a robot to

B
perform some other types of greetings.

C the robot in the researchers’ study may have uses other than interacting with humans.

D lifelike handshakes may make people more comfortable interacting with robots.

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Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing
Inferences
Information and Ideas
Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Inferences
Inferences
As the name suggests, dramaturges originated in theater, where they continue to serve a variety of
functions: conducting historical research for directors, compiling character biographies for actors, and
Inferences | Lesson perhaps most importantly, helping writers of plays and musicals to hone the works’ stories and
characters. Performance scholar Susan Manning observes that many choreographers, like playwrights
and musical theater writers, are concerned with storytelling and characterization. In fact, some
Inferences — Worked
choreographers describe the dances they create as expressions of narrative through movement; it is
example
therefore unsurprising that ______

Practice: Inferences Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:

some directors and actors rely too heavily on dramaturges to complete certain research
A
tasks.

choreographers developing dances with narrative elements frequently engage

B
dramaturges to assist in refining those elements.

C dramaturges can have a profound impact on the artistic direction of plays and musicals.

dances by choreographers who incorporate narrative elements are more accessible to

D
audiences than dances by choreographers who do not.

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Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas Inferences
Inferences
Inferences Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email

Inferences | Lesson In her 2021 article “Throwaway History: Towards a Historiography of Ephemera,” scholar Anne Garner
discusses John Johnson (1882–1956), a devoted collector of items intended to be discarded, including
bus tickets and campaign pamphlets. Johnson recognized that scholarly institutions considered his
Inferences — Worked expansive collection of ephemera to be worthless—indeed, it wasn’t until 1968, after Johnson’s death,
example that Oxford University’s Bodleian Library acquired the collection, having grasped the items’ potential
value to historians and other researchers. Hence, the example of Johnson serves to ______

Practice: Inferences
Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:

represent the challenge of incorporating examples of ephemera into the collections of

A
libraries and other scholarly institutions.

illustrate both the relatively low scholarly regard in which ephemera was once held and
B
the later recognition of ephemera’s possible utility.

lend support to arguments by historians and other researchers who continue to assert
C
that ephemera holds no value for scholars.

demonstrate the difficulties faced by contemporary historians in conducting research at

D
the Bodleian Library without access to ephemera.

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Test prep Digital SAT Inferences

Reading and Writing
Information and Ideas Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email
Inferences
Inferences
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is projected to maintain operation until at least 2030, but it has
already revolutionized high-resolution imaging of solar-system bodies in visible and ultraviolet (UV)
light wavelengths, notwithstanding that only about 6% of the bodies imaged by the HST are within
Inferences | Lesson
the solar system. NASA researcher Cindy L. Young and colleagues assert that a new space telescope
dedicated exclusively to solar-system observations would permit an extensive survey of minor solar-
Inferences — Worked system bodies and long-term UV observation to discern how solar-system bodies change over time.
example Young and colleagues’ recommendation therefore implies that the HST ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Practice: Inferences
Choose 1 answer:

A will likely continue to be used primarily to observe objects outside the solar system.

will no longer be used to observe solar system objects if the telescope recommended by
B
Young and colleagues is deployed.

can be modified to observe the features of solar system objects that are of interest to
C
Young and colleagues.

lacks the sensors to observe the wavelengths of light needed to discern how solar system
D
bodies change over time.

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Inferences
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Off-off-Broadway theaters emerged in the late 1950s as a rebellion against mainstream Broadway
theaters in New York, freeing artists to create productions that were more experimental than typical
Test prep Digital SAT Broadway shows. One such artist was playwright María Irene Fornés. Working with off-off Broadway
Reading and Writing theaters enabled Fornés not only to direct her own plays but also to direct them exactly as she
Information and Ideas intended them to be staged, regardless of how strange the results might have seemed to audiences
Inferences accustomed to Broadway shows. In this way, Fornés ______

Inferences
Which choice most logically completes the text?

Inferences | Lesson Choose 1 answer:

would have been more famous if she had created plays that were mainstream instead of
Inferences — Worked A
example experimental.

Practice: Inferences recognized that staging an off-off-Broadway play was more complicated than staging a
B
Broadway play.

wrote plays that would have been too expensive to produce if someone else had directed
C
the production.

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D illustrates the artistic opportunity offered by off-off Broadway theaters.

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Test prep Digital SAT
Reading and Writing
In their book Smart Pricing, Jagmohan Raju and Z. John Zhang consider musicians’ use of the
Information and Ideas nontraditional “pay as you wish” pricing model. This model generally offers listeners the choice to pay
Inferences more or less than a suggested price for a song or album—or even to pay nothing at all. As the authors
Inferences note, that’s the option most listeners chose for an album by the band Harvey Danger. Only about 1%
opted to pay for the album, resulting in earnings below the band’s expectations. But the authors also
discuss musician Jane Siberry, who saw significant earnings from her “pay as you wish” online music
Inferences | Lesson store as a result of many listeners choosing to pay more than the store’s suggested prices. Hence, the
“pay as you wish” model may ______

Inferences — Worked Which choice most logically completes the text?

example
Choose 1 answer:
Practice: Inferences

A hold greater financial appeal for bands than for individual musicians.

cause most musicians who use the model to lower the suggested prices of their songs
B
and albums over time.

C prove financially successful for some musicians but disappointing for others.

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more strongly reflect differences in certain musicians’ popularity than traditional pricing
D
models do.

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Inferences
Google Classroom Facebook Twitter Email

Researchers Suchithra Rajendran and Maximilian Popfinger modeled varying levels of passenger
redistribution from short-haul flights (flights of 50 to 210 minutes, from takeoff to landing) to high-
Test prep Digital SAT speed rail trips. Planes travel faster than trains, but air travel typically requires 3 hours of lead time for
Reading and Writing security, baggage handling, and boarding that rail travel doesn’t, so short-haul routes take similar
Information and Ideas amounts of time by air and by rail. However, the model suggests that as rail passenger volumes
Inferences approach current capacity limits, long lead times emerge. Therefore, for rail to remain a viable
alternative to short-haul flights, ______
Inferences
Which choice most logically completes the text?
Inferences | Lesson
Choose 1 answer:

Inferences — Worked
example rail systems should offer fewer long-haul routes and airlines should offer more long-haul
A
routes.

Practice: Inferences
B rail systems may need to schedule additional trains for these routes.

security, baggage handling, and boarding procedures used by airlines may need to be
C
implemented for rail systems.

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passengers who travel by rail for these routes will need to accept that lead times will be
D
similar to those for air travel.

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“Gestures” in painting are typically thought of as bold, expressive brushstrokes. In the 1970s,
Digital SAT Reading and Writing American painter Jack Whitten built a 12-foot (3.7-meter) tool he named the “developer” to
apply paint to an entire canvas in one motion, resulting in his series of “slab” paintings from that
decade. Whitten described this process as making an entire painting in “one gesture,” signaling a
UNIT 2: LESSON 4 clear departure from the prevalence of gestures in his work from the 1960s. Some art historians
Inferences claim this shift represents “removing gesture” from the process. Therefore, regardless of whether
using the developer constitutes a gesture, both Whitten and these art historians likely agree that
______
Inferences | Lesson
Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:
Inferences — Worked example

A any tool that a painter uses to create an artwork is capable of creating gestures.
Inferences
50%
Whitten’s work from the 1960s exhibits many more gestures than his work from the
B
1970s does.
Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing
> Information and Ideas > Inferences
Whitten became less interested in exploring the role of gesture in his work as his
C
career progressed.
© 2022 Khan Academy
Terms of use Privacy Policy Cookie Notice Whitten’s work from the 1960s is much more realistic than his work from the 1970s
D
is.

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Google Classroom

Digital SAT Reading and Writing

Biologist Natacha Bodenhausen and colleagues analyzed the naturally occurring bacterial
communities associated with leaves and roots of wild Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering
UNIT 2: LESSON 4 plant. The researchers found many of the same bacterial genera in both the plants’ leaves and
Inferences roots. To explain this, the researchers pointed to the general proximity of A. thaliana leaves to the
ground and noted that rain splashing off soil could bring soil-based bacteria into contact with the
leaves. Alternatively, the researchers noted that wind, which may be a source of bacteria in the
Inferences | Lesson aboveground portion of plants, could also bring bacteria to the soil and roots. Either explanation
suggests that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Inferences — Worked example
Choose 1 answer:

Inferences
50% A A. thaliana leaves and roots are especially vulnerable to harmful bacteria.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing bacteria carried by wind are typically less beneficial to A. thaliana than soil-based
B
> Information and Ideas > Inferences bacteria are.

many bacteria in A. thaliana leaves may have been deposited by means other than
© 2022 Khan Academy C
rain.
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D some bacteria in A. thaliana leaves and roots may share a common source.

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Digital SAT Reading and Writing

Inferences
Google Classroom

UNIT 2: LESSON 4
Inferences
Martin Dančák, Wewin Tjiasmanto, and colleagues have identified a new carnivorous plant
species (Nepenthes pudica) in Indonesia. Like other carnivorous plants, N. pudica has pitfall traps,
or pitchers, that capture prey, but unlike others, the pitchers of N. pudica are located
Inferences | Lesson underground. The researchers unearthed the new species on fairly dry ridges with surfaces that
host few other plants and animals. Therefore, the researchers hypothesize that the N. pudica
species likely ______

Inferences — Worked example

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Choose 1 answer:
Inferences
50%

A is buried by nearby animals as they forage along the ridges for food.

Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing

> Information and Ideas > Inferences
B evolved to have underground traps to access more prey than would surface traps.

© 2022 Khan Academy

Terms of use Privacy Policy Cookie Notice C formed pitchers early in development to absorb more moisture.

D represents one of many undiscovered carnivorous plant species in the region.

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Google Classroom

Digital SAT Reading and Writing

Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories about detective Sherlock Holmes were published between 1887
and 1927. They have inspired countless successful adaptations, including comic strips, movies,
UNIT 2: LESSON 4 and a television series Sherlock Hound, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, who is celebrated for his
Inferences animated movies. Until 2014, these stories were copyrighted. The right to adapt was only
available to those who could afford the copyright fee and gain approval from the strict copyright
holders of Doyle’s estate. Some journalists predict that the number of Sherlock Holmes
adaptations is likely to increase since the end of copyright means that ______
Inferences | Lesson

Which choice most logically completes the text?

Inferences — Worked example Choose 1 answer:

Inferences A producing adaptations will become easier and less expensive.

50%

people will become more interested in detective stories than they were in the
B
Test prep > Digital SAT Reading and Writing 1800s.

> Information and Ideas > Inferences

C the former copyright holders of Doyle’s estate will return fees they collected.
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D Doyle’s original stories will become hard to find.

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