Evidence Support

SAT Reading — Textual Evidence and Data Support Questions ## What These Questions Ask Evidence support questions give you a claim and ask you to find which quote or piece of data from the passage best supports (or sometimes undermines) that claim. Two formats: 1. Paired questions: A reading question followed by "Which quotation from the text best supports your answer?" 2. Data questions: A graph or table is shown alongside a passage; you choose which answer uses the data correctly. ## The Key Move: Match Claim to Evidence The wrong answers in evidence questions often: - Mention the right topic but don't actually support the specific claim - Are true statements from the passage but support a different point - Partially relate to the claim but leave out the key part The correct evidence must directly prove the specific claim you're supporting — not just be from the same neighborhood. ## Strategy: Work Backward from the Claim For paired questions: 1. Write the claim in your own words 2. Go through each quote option and ask: "Does this directly prove my claim?" 3. Eliminate any quote that doesn't include the key element of the claim For data questions: 1. Read the graph/table carefully (title, axes, units) 2. Identify what the question asks you to prove 3. Look for the answer that accurately reads the data AND supports the claim — don't pick answers that distort the data or make up a trend that isn't there ## Common Data Interpretation Mistakes - Confusing correlation and causation: A graph showing two things rising together doesn't prove one causes the other - Ignoring scale: A big-looking bar might represent a small…