Reading & Writing · Information and Ideas
Command of Evidence: Quantitative
Explanation
Command of Evidence: Quantitative questions pair a data display—a table, bar graph, line graph, or scatterplot—with a short text that states a claim, hypothesis, or conclusion. Your job is to choose the answer that uses the data in the display to support or complete that idea. Common stems are “Which choice most effectively uses data from the [graph/table] to support the [claim]?” and “…to complete the statement?”
The four choices cite specific numbers; the correct one is both accurate and actually relevant to the claim being made. Wrong choices usually do one of three things: they misread the display (citing the wrong row, bar, or axis value), they cite an accurate number that does not bear on the claim, or they refer to data the display does not show. To succeed, read the title, axis labels, and units carefully; pin down exactly what the text is claiming; and pick the choice whose data both checks out and directly backs that specific claim.
Example 1
| Household | Electricity use (kWh) |
|---|---|
| Alvarez | 540 |
| Bello | 610 |
| Chen | 430 |
| Duarte | 720 |
A utility company measures how much electricity its customers use so that it can plan for periods of peak demand. As part of one such review, the company recorded the average monthly electricity use, in kilowatt-hours, of four households in the same neighborhood over the past year. A student analyzing the figures for a class project wants to identify the household that used the most electricity per month; according to the data, that household is ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
A
the Alvarez household, at 540 kWh.
B
the Chen household, at 430 kWh.
C
the Duarte household, at 720 kWh.
D
the Bello household, at 610 kWh.
Choice C is the best answer. The table shows the Duarte household used 720 kWh, more than Alvarez (540), Bello (610), and Chen (430), so it used the most. Choice A is incorrect; the Alvarez household’s 540 kWh is accurate but lower than the Duarte and Bello totals. Choice B is incorrect; the Chen household’s 430 kWh is the lowest in the table, not the highest. Choice D is incorrect; the Bello household’s 610 kWh is the second highest, not the most.
Example 2
Snowfall totals can differ widely even among towns in the same region, and weather services record them to compare winters and plan for snow removal. One regional weather service reported the total snowfall, in centimeters, that four nearby towns received last winter. A reporter writing a review of the season claims that Brant received more snow than any of the other three towns.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the claim?
A
Brant received about 142 cm of snow, more than Ashford (85), Colby (60), and Dover (110).
B
Colby received about 60 cm of snow, the least of the four towns.
C
Dover received about 110 cm of snow, more than Ashford.
D
Ashford received about 85 cm of snow, more than Colby.
Choice A is the best answer. The graph shows Brant at about 142 cm, more than Ashford (85), Colby (60), and Dover (110), which supports the claim that Brant received the most snow. Choice B is incorrect; identifying Colby as the least does not support a claim about which town received the most. Choice C is incorrect; that Dover (110 cm) exceeded Ashford is accurate but does not establish Brant as the highest. Choice D is incorrect; that Ashford (85 cm) exceeded Colby is accurate but irrelevant to whether Brant received the most.
Tips for solving
- Start with the display’s title, axis labels, and units—know what is being measured, and in what quantity, before you read the choices.
Example: A chart is titled "Average Daily Water Usage per Household in 2022."
X-axis: Months (Jan–Dec)
Y-axis: Water Volume in Thousands of Gallons (e.g., gallons).
Mistake to Avoid: Seeing the bar for July at and assuming households used 8 gallons of water in July.
Correct Reading: By checking units first, you immediately recognize that the July value represents 8,000 gallons.
- Put the claim in your own words and note exactly what it means (a maximum, a trend, a comparison, a difference), then look for the choice whose data matches that specific point.
Example: A line graph shows renewable energy production from 2010 to 2020. The passage states: "Solar power experienced a sharper upward trend in production than wind power did after 2015."
Your Translation: "I need data showing that from 2015 to 2020, the solar line steepens/increases faster than the wind line."
Matching Choice: "Between 2015 and 2020, solar energy output increased by 150%, whereas wind energy output increased by only 35%."
- Check every number in a choice against the display; distractors often swap a row, use the wrong bar, or read the wrong axis.
- Be wary of choices that mention data the display does not contain (for example, individual sizes when the figure shows totals, or years that are not plotted).
Example: A graph plots total wheat production (in metric tons) for four countries in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The "Missing Data" Trap Choice: "Wheat production increased steadily across all four countries from 2018 through 2022."
Why it's a trap: The graph stops at 2020. You cannot verify any trend for 2021 or 2022 because that data isn't in the figure.
- For “complete the statement” items, read the setup sentence carefully so the data you pick actually finishes the specific comparison or example being made.
Practice questions
00:00
Question 1 · easy
| Country | Renewable share of electricity |
|---|---|
| Norway | 98% |
| Brazil | 78% |
| Germany | 44% |
| Japan | 22% |
Electricity can be generated from fossil fuels such as coal and gas or from renewable sources such as hydropower, wind, and solar, and the share coming from renewables differs widely from one country to the next. As part of a school project on clean energy, a student gathered figures showing the percentage of each of four countries’ electricity that came from renewable sources in 2022. The student wants to open the project by identifying the country that, of the four, relied on renewable sources for the greatest share of its electricity that year; according to the data, that country is ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Question 2 · easy
City museums often run several special exhibits at once and track attendance to decide which themes to bring back in the future. One museum recorded how many visitors each of its four special exhibits drew during a single week. A staff member preparing a report for the museum’s board wants to highlight the exhibit that proved most popular that week, noting that one exhibit drew far more visitors than any of the others. According to the data, that most-visited exhibit was ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the statement?
Question 3 · easy
| Waterfall | Country | Height (meters) |
|---|---|---|
| Angel Falls | Venezuela | 979 |
| Tugela Falls | South Africa | 948 |
| Yosemite Falls | United States | 739 |
| Vinnufossen | Norway | 860 |
Waterfalls are often ranked by their total height, though the tallest are not always the best known. For a geography assignment comparing waterfalls on different continents, a student compiled the height, in meters, of four notable waterfalls, along with the country in which each is located. In the section of the assignment devoted to North America, the student needs to state the height of Yosemite Falls, in the United States. According to the data the student gathered, Yosemite Falls is ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
Question 4 · easy
Rainfall totals can vary sharply from month to month, and amateur weather clubs often keep records to track local patterns across a season. Members of one such club measured the total rainfall, in millimeters, in the town of Haro during each of four consecutive months. Reviewing the measurements, a member preparing the club’s seasonal summary claims that July was the wettest of the four months by a clear margin and should be singled out in the report.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the member’s claim?
Question 5 · easy
| Model | Battery capacity (Wh) | Range (km) |
|---|---|---|
| Lark | 360 | 55 |
| Heron | 500 | 80 |
| Falcon | 630 | 95 |
| Wren | 250 | 40 |
The distance an electric bicycle can travel on a single charge depends largely on the capacity of its battery, which is usually measured in watt-hours. For a buyer’s guide, a cycling magazine compared four electric-bike models, recording each model’s battery capacity and its estimated range on a full charge. A reviewer drafting the section on the Falcon model needs to state that model’s battery capacity before discussing its range. According to the data in the guide, the Falcon’s battery capacity is ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Question 6 · easy
Recycling rates differ by material because some materials are easier and more profitable to reprocess than others. An environmental agency in Region K reported the share of each of four common materials that was recycled last year rather than sent to a landfill. An analyst reviewing the figures for a public report observes that, among these four materials, paper had the highest recycling rate, and wants to back the observation with specific data from the report.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the analyst’s observation?
Question 7 · easy
| Runner | Finish time | Age group |
|---|---|---|
| Osei | 3:12 | 30–39 |
| Park | 2:58 | 20–29 |
| Ibarra | 3:41 | 40–49 |
| Novak | 3:05 | 30–39 |
Marathon organizers publish finishers’ times so that runners and reporters can compare performances across age groups. The official results of the Cedar Valley Marathon listed four runners’ finish times alongside the age group in which each runner competed. A reporter writing a short recap of the race for a local paper wants to quote the finish time of the runner named Park, who competed in the 20-to-29 age group. According to the published results, Park finished the marathon in ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?
Question 8 · easy
The number of bird species found at a wetland is one measure of the habitat’s ecological richness. During a single-day survey, volunteers visited four wetland ponds in the same nature reserve and counted the number of distinct bird species they observed at each pond. A coordinator compiling the survey for a conservation newsletter states that Marsh Pond hosted the greatest variety of bird species of the four ponds that day.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the coordinator’s statement?
Question 9 · easy
| Country | Production (thousand metric tons) |
|---|---|
| Brazil | 2,990 |
| Vietnam | 1,845 |
| Colombia | 833 |
| Ethiopia | 456 |
Global coffee supplies come from a relatively small number of major producing countries, and trade publications track their output from year to year. A trade newsletter listed the coffee production of four countries in 2021, each figure given in thousands of metric tons. An editor preparing a caption for a chart that accompanies the article needs to report Colombia’s output for that year. According to the data in the newsletter, Colombia produced ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
Question 10 · easy
App stores publish download figures that developers use to judge which kinds of apps are gaining users. For a single quarter, one store reported the number of downloads, in millions, for four categories of apps. A market analyst preparing a briefing for developers observes that games were downloaded more often than any other category during that quarter and wants to support the point with figures from the store’s report.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to support the analyst’s observation?