SAT Reading & Writing: Command of Evidence (Drill 1)

Question 1. Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

• A) is the Pacific West, which uses 89,100 gallons annually due primarily to its high outdoor usage of 38,900 gallons.
• B) is the Southeast, which uses 85,600 gallons annually and has the second-highest indoor usage at 54,100 gallons.
• C) is the Southwest, which uses 93,900 gallons annually and also has the highest outdoor usage at 44,600 gallons. ✓
• D) is the Northeast, which uses 70,600 gallons annually but has the lowest outdoor usage at 18,200 gallons.

Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because the table shows the Southwest has the highest total use at 93,900 gallons. This is also consistent with the observation that outdoor usage drives regional differences, as the Southwest's outdoor usage of 44,600 gallons is the highest in the table. Choice A is incorrect because the Pacific West's total of 89,100 gallons is not the highest. Choice B is incorrect because the Southeast's total of 85,600 is not the highest. Choice D is incorrect because the Northeast has the lowest total usage, not the highest.

Question 2. Which finding, if true, would most directly support Harwood's hypothesis?

• A) Coral species that recovered quickly were found in shallower waters where sunlight exposure was greatest.
• B) Laboratory analysis confirmed that the algae in faster-recovering corals maintained photosynthetic activity at temperatures that caused algae in other corals to die. ✓
• C) Coral reefs in the South Pacific experienced bleaching events more frequently than reefs in the Caribbean during the same period.
• D) Several coral species that recovered quickly also had thicker calcium carbonate skeletons than species that recovered slowly.

Explanation: Choice B is the best answer because Harwood's hypothesis specifically claims that faster-recovering corals harbor algae more resistant to high temperatures. Finding that these algae maintained photosynthetic activity (energy production) at elevated temperatures directly supports both elements of the hypothesis: the algae's heat resistance and the coral's ability to restore energy production sooner. Choice A is incorrect because water depth and sunlight exposure don't address the algae's temperature resistance. Choice C is incorrect because comparing bleaching frequency across regions has no bearing on why certain species recover faster. Choice D is incorrect because skeletal thickness is a structural feature unrelated to the symbiotic algae mechanism Harwood proposes.

Question 3. Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?

• A) Belgara has the highest yield in wheat at 5.9 metric tons per hectare and the highest yield in corn at 8.1 metric tons per hectare.
• B) Belgara produces more rice per hectare than Norland but less rice per hectare than Tashara.
• C) Belgara has the highest corn yield of any country in the table, at 8.1 metric tons per hectare, and none of its other crop yields are below 4.2 metric tons per hectare. ✓
• D) Belgara's barley yield of 4.7 metric tons per hectare is more than double Tashara's barley yield of 2.1 metric tons per hectare.

Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because the statement calls Belgara's 'overall grain productivity' noteworthy, so the completion needs to address multiple crops. Choice C identifies both that Belgara leads in corn (8.1) and that all its other yields are relatively high (none below 4.2), supporting the idea that Belgara is strong across the board. Choice A is incorrect because Norland, not Belgara, has the highest wheat yield (6.2 vs. 5.9). Choice B is incorrect because it only describes Belgara's rice yield relative to two countries and doesn't explain why overall productivity is noteworthy. Choice D is incorrect because it addresses only a single crop comparison, which doesn't support the broader claim about overall productivity.

Question 4. Which quotation from The House of Mirth most effectively illustrates the claim?

• A) "She had a flash of material vision, and saw how the things she had always wanted filled the room with their costly splendor."
• B) "The whole atmosphere of the place was so charged with luxury that the mere fact of breathing it gave one a sense of having grown richer."
• C) "She was so evidently the victim of the civilization which had produced her, that the links of her bracelet seemed like manacles chaining her to her fate." ✓
• D) "The collective obscurity of the Trenors' dinner guests served only to throw Lily's beauty into becoming relief."

Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because the quotation directly illustrates both elements of the claim: Lily is described as a 'victim of the civilization which had produced her' (trapped by social expectations), and her bracelet links are compared to 'manacles chaining her to her fate' (a gilded but suffocating world). The bracelet-as-manacle metaphor captures the idea of wealth that imprisons rather than liberates. Choice A is incorrect because it describes Lily wanting luxury, not feeling trapped by it. Choice B is incorrect because it describes the atmosphere of wealth positively, with no suggestion of suffocation. Choice D is incorrect because it describes Lily's beauty in a social setting without addressing feeling trapped or suffocated.

Question 5. Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken Sethi's conclusion?

• A) Many employees at the firms studied reported that they preferred working from home to working in the office.
• B) The firms that adopted fully remote work models also implemented new project management software during the same period, as the passage describes it.
• C) Employees at fully remote firms worked an average of seven more hours per week than they had before the remote policy began. ✓
• D) Some fully remote firms experienced higher employee turnover rates than firms with hybrid work models.

Explanation: Choice C is the best answer because Sethi's conclusion specifically attributes productivity gains to employees redirecting commute time into focused work, not to employees simply working more total hours. If employees at remote firms worked seven more hours per week, the productivity gains could be explained by increased working hours rather than better use of recovered commute time, directly undermining the causal mechanism Sethi proposes. Choice A is incorrect because employee preference doesn't address whether the productivity gains stem from reduced commuting. Choice B is incorrect because while new software could be an alternative explanation, it doesn't directly challenge the commute-time mechanism the way additional hours worked does. Choice D is incorrect because turnover rates are a separate concern from productivity and don't address Sethi's specific reasoning about commute time and focused work.