Command of Evidence

​There are 18 Command of Evidence questions on the Reading & Writing tests.
There are 3 types of CoE questions on the Reading test:

1. Paired evidence: Identify the best textual evidence for your answer to the previous question.

2. Author's evidence: Identify the quote that best supports an argument made by the author (Not paired, 1-2 per test)
3. Data driven evidence: Examine how data supports claims made in the passage.

On your official SAT, you're likely to see 10 questions in the Reading Test that ask you to cite specific evidence from the passage. This is the most common type of question you’ll encounter.

Usually, questions that ask for specific evidence will follow another question, like an implicit information or point of view question. These follow-up questions will always appear the same way:

• Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?

Each choice will cite a quotation from the text and provide line numbers that tell you where it appears in the passage. Your job will be to determine which lines most directly support the answer to the previous question. In other words, which choice answers the previous question?

Multiple Choice

Lightning is the flash of light that occurs when electricity moves between clouds or between a cloud and the ground.

A lightning bolt that flashes in the sky can reach a temperature of 60,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That is about five times hotter than the sun! The heat from lightning causes the surrounding air to expand, resulting in the loud sound known as thunder.

What evidence can you find that explains how thunder is created??

• Thunder is created from the rain.

• Heat from the lightning creates thunder.

• Running a comb through your hair creates thunder.

​Incorrect choices on citing evidence questions are commonly caused by the following errors:

• Nearby lines: In the choices for a citing evidence question, you might be offered several sets of lines that are right next to one another. Because they come from the same part of the passage, these lines may refer to similar ideas. However, only one of the choices will provide the direct evidence we're looking for.

• Faulty pairs: When citing evidence questions follow other questions, errors are commonly caused when referenced lines contain similar ideas as the incorrect choices from the previous question. But just because the ideas in two choices match up doesn't mean that those choices are correct; the information they contain actually needs to answer the first question.

Multiple Choice

If I were answering the question: "Is Kayla a good student?", which of the following would be an important detail?

• Kayla is 13 years old.

• Kayla goes to a Catholic School.

• Kayla enjoys reading, and does her work to her full potential.

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Top tip: Answer paired questions together

Accuracy on citing evidence question pairs is frequently all or nothing: if we miss the first question, we're likely to miss the second question in the pair, too.

These paired questions might feel challenging to navigate at first, but the relationship between the questions actually gives us a helpful way to approach both questions simultaneously!

Since one of the choices in the second "citing evidence" question contains the evidence we need to answer the previous question, it also provides the answer to the first question!

​Top tip: Answer paired questions together

1. Focus on the first question—but cover the choices: To avoid being tempted by wrong choices that "feel right" or "make sense", cover up all the choices until later. Then, rephrase the question in your own words—try to simplify by using How, What, or Why to begin your version of the question.

2.Test the choices from the second question: Keeping your version of the first question locked in mind, go back to the passage and consider the lines suggested by each choice in the second (evidence) question. For each option, ask yourself: does this answer my version of question 1? Use process of elimination to select the answer.

3. Now, you're ready to answer the first question in your own words: Using the evidence you found, predict the answer to the first question.

4. Finally, uncover the choices for the first question: Select the choice in the first question that best matches your prediction.

Multiple Choice

Criminalizing cyber-bullying is not the most effective solution to the problem.Which is the strongest evidence to support the claim?

• "Many of my students complain about headaches, which I believe are caused by too much time spent on their tablets," said eighth-grade science teacher Tom Pittman.

• Tablets in the classroom, which are usually equipped with a web browser and a variety of applications, are a source of distraction.

• The co-director of the Cyber-bullying Research Center stated that the best responses to cyber-bullying include in-school detention and family partnership programs. 

​Top tip: Simplify the question—Rephrase it!

When tackling a citing evidence question that appears on its own, many students find it helpful to rephrase the question using their own words to get a better handle on it.

Example: "Which choice provides the best evidence that the author of Passage 1 would likely disagree with the claim attributed to Albert Einstein in Passage 2?"

This is a multi-step question! We need to:

1. Find the "claim attributed to Einstein in Passage 2" and say it in our own words, for example: "Light speed is impossible"

2. Say (in our own words) what a disagreement to this claim might sound like: "Light speed IS possible!"

3. Test the choices to find a match

Multiple Choice

Bill Clinton was the most effective president of the second half of the twentieth century. Which is the strongest evidence to support the claim? 

• Clinton signed the 1993 Brady Bill, which requires a waiting period and background check before purchasing handguns. 

• During Clinton's presidency, the crime reate dropped every year, which was the longest continuous drop on record. 

• Even after leavin g the White House, Clinton remained popular with the American people. 

​Top tip: Let the choices guide you

Now that we have a basic idea of what we're looking for, let's consider one choice at a time. Say your version of the claim, then read the text indicated by the choice—did the cited text match your version? Repeat this test until you find the best match: that should be the answer!

Multiple Choice

Bans against the distribution of free plastic bags would help reduce costs for retailers. Which is the strongest evidence to support the claim? 

• In recent years, a number of states have passed statutes banning the distribution of free plastic bags. 

• Plastic bags take decades, if not centuries, to degrade and therefore take up a significant amount of space in landfills

• The one hundred billion plastic bags distributed in the U.S. each year cost reatilers an estimated four billino dollars. 

​Data-driven Evidence Question

Multiple Choice

Which choice is supported by the data in the picture?

• The number of students using public transportation is greater than the number of retirees using public transportation.

• The number of employed people using public transportation and the number of unemployed people using public transportation is roughly the same.

• People employed outside the home are less likely to use public transportation than are homemakers.

• Unemployed people use public transportation less often than do people employed outside the home.