Reading & Writing · Information and Ideas

    Command of Evidence

    Select the evidence that best supports a claim or completes an argument.

    What the SAT Tests

    Command-of-Evidence questions give you a claim or hypothesis and ask you to pick the data point, quote, or finding that most directly supports or weakens it. On the Digital SAT, these often involve tables or figures.

    Key Tips for Command of Evidence

    • State exactly what the claim is in your own words before evaluating choices.
    • Match specific numbers from tables to specific wording in the claim.
    • Eliminate answers that are off-topic or that support a different claim.

    How to recognize Command of Evidence questions

    • Look for Information and Ideas signals in the stem: evidence, purpose, transition, grammar rule, vocabulary-in-context, or synthesis task.
    • Before reading choices, state what the correct answer must do in the sentence or passage.
    • The official College Board skill label is Command of Evidence; use that label to drill only this question type.

    Fast solving workflow

    1. Name the question type before reading the choices; the SAT repeats the same jobs with different passages.
    2. Predict the job of the correct answer in plain English, then compare choices against that job.
    3. Require proof from the text or sentence structure. A choice that sounds reasonable but is not supported should be eliminated.

    Common traps

    • Choosing a true statement that does not answer the exact question.
    • Overextending an inference beyond what the passage supports.
    • Ignoring contrast words such as however, although, or nevertheless.

    Sample Command of Evidence Questions

    These are real practice questions pulled from our Digital SAT bank. Try each one before reading the highlighted correct answer.

    1. Question 1 · Easy
      Which quotation from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz most effectively illustrates the claim?
      The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum. In the novel, the narrator describes a character's house as having become very faded in appearance over time: ______
      • A. "Once more [Dorothy and her companions] could see fences built beside the road; but these were painted green, and when they came to a small house, in which a farmer evidently lived, that also was painted green."
      • B. "Then [Dorothy] went back to the house, and having helped herself and Toto to a good drink of the cool, clear water, she set about making ready for the journey to the City of Emeralds."
      • C. "Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else."Correct
      • D. "When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country."
    2. Question 2 · Easy
      Which quotation from Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge most effectively illustrates the claim?
      Memoirs of Elleanor Eldridge is an 1838 historical account by Elleanor Eldridge and Frances Harriet Whipple Green. In the book, the authors assert that all people naturally have an emotional attachment to where they live, writing, ______
      • A. "How careful ought we to be to speak nothing but the truth, even in regard to the most trifling circumstances; and not only so, but to be well assured that what we suppose to be true, is truth, before we receive it as such."
      • B. "Home is home, to the lowly as well as the great; and no rank, or color, destroys its sacred character, its power over the mind, and the affections."Correct
      • C. "Blessed are the slumbers of the innocent! They are kindlier than balm, and they refresh and gladden the spirit of childhood, like ministerings from a better world."
      • D. "To give some idea of the high esteem in which the subject of the following narrative is held, and the strong interest her misfortunes have excited, a few, from the great number of recommendations in her possession, are selected."
    3. Question 3 · Easy
      Which quotation from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz most effectively illustrates the claim?
      The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is a 1900 novel by L. Frank Baum. In the novel, Dorothy lives in Kansas with her aunt and uncle, but she later finds herself in a land called Oz. The narrator indicates that her aunt and uncle's house in Kansas is remote and solitary, writing that ______
      • A. in Kansas, "When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country."Correct
      • B. in Kansas, "Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else."
      • C. in Oz, "Dorothy fell asleep only once, and then she dreamed she was in Kansas, where Aunt Em was telling her how glad she was to have her little girl at home again."
      • D. in Oz, "[Dorothy and her companions] walked along listening to the singing of the brightly colored birds and looking at the lovely flowers which now became so thick that the ground was carpeted with them."

    Practice Command of Evidence Questions

    Drill command of evidence questions in the Digital SAT Reading & Writing question bank, or take a full-length practice module to see how this skill appears under test conditions.

    Practice blockWhat to doMove on when
    WarmupSolve 10 untimed command of evidence questions and write the rule used for each.You can explain 8 of 10 without reading the explanation.
    Timed drillSolve 20 filtered bank questions at real module pace.Accuracy is at least 80% and misses are not repeating.
    TransferTake a mixed timed module and mark each Information and Ideas miss.The skill still holds up when mixed with other question types.

    FAQs

    What is Command of Evidence on the Digital SAT?

    Command-of-Evidence questions give you a claim or hypothesis and ask you to pick the data point, quote, or finding that most directly supports or weakens it. On the Digital SAT, these often involve tables or figures.

    How hard are command of evidence questions?

    Command of Evidence questions appear at every difficulty level on the Digital SAT Reading & Writing section. The hardest versions gate access to the top scaled scores in the hard Module 2.

    How do I practice command of evidence?

    Use the 1600.now question bank to filter for command of evidence questions, solve at least 20 in a row, and review every miss with the written explanation.

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