Command of evidence: tables and graphs
Information and Ideas is about 26% of the Reading and Writing section (12–14 of 54 questions). In these questions a short passage ends with a claim or a blank, a table or graph is shown, and you choose the sentence that uses the data correctly to support the claim.
What the question looks like
You see a short passage that explains a situation, a table or a graph, and a final sentence with a blank or a claim. The question asks which choice uses the data to complete the text or support the claim. All four choices are written in good English and most contain numbers that really are in the graphic. Only one of them proves the claim. Follow these steps every time.
Read the graphic before the choices
Read the title, the column and row headings, the axis labels and the units first. A bar labeled 6 on a graph “in thousands” means 6,000, not 6. Check the years, the groups and the colors in the legend. Then look for the numbers that the claim is about. Do not try to remember the whole table; go back to it for each choice.
Match the choice to the kind of claim
Decide what the claim says and what kind of numbers can prove it. A statement about the highest or lowest needs the whole list. A trend (rose, fell, stayed the same) needs several points in order, not just one. A comparison needs numbers for both groups. A claim about percent or “twice as much” needs a small calculation.
| The claim says | The proof must show |
|---|---|
| highest / lowest / most popular | the top or bottom value compared with the others |
| increased / decreased | at least two points in the right order, start to end |
| A is greater than B | numbers for both A and B, from the same category |
| doubled / 25 percent more | values you can divide or subtract to get that size |
The four kinds of wrong answer
Almost every wrong choice is one of these. Learn them and you will find them quickly. Many wrong choices use correct numbers, so “is it in the table?” is not enough. Ask: does it prove this claim?
| Wrong answer | What happened |
|---|---|
| True but irrelevant | The numbers are in the graphic, but they do not prove the claim |
| Misread | Wrong row, wrong year, swapped groups or wrong unit |
| Reversed | The numbers are right, but rising and falling or larger and smaller are swapped |
| Exaggerated | Says “doubled” or “tripled” when the numbers do not give that size |
Do the small calculations
When a choice talks about percent, double or a difference, work it out. 90 to 135 is an increase of 45, and 45 ÷ 90 = 0.5, so 50 percent. Compare with the percent the other group had. Percent change is the change divided by the starting value. When a graph has no number labels, read the bars against the gridlines and be careful with units.
At a school library, the librarian counted how many books students borrowed in each of five months. She noticed that borrowing climbed as the winter exams approached and then dropped sharply once the exams were over.
| Month | Books borrowed |
|---|---|
| September | 310 |
| October | 355 |
| November | 420 |
| December | 520 |
| January | 300 |
- Students borrowed 310 books in September and 355 in October.
- Borrowing rose every month from 310 books in September to 520 in December and then fell to 300 in January.
- Borrowing in January (300 books) was lower than in September (310 books).
- Borrowing in December was twice as high as in September.
- The claim has two parts: a climb before the exams and a sharp drop after.
- B gives the whole climb (310, 355, 420, 520) and the drop to 300.
- A shows only the start of the climb. C compares two low months and shows no climb.
- D is exaggerated: 520 ÷ 310 is about 1.7, not 2.
A nature reserve opened a new walking trail in spring 2024. Rangers counted the visitors in each season of 2023 and 2024, hoping to see where the trail made a difference. They report that the biggest increase came in spring: ______
- spring visitors rose from 8,000 in 2023 to 15,000 in 2024, nearly twice as many.
- summer was still the busiest season in 2024, with 18,000 visitors.
- winter visitors rose from 3,000 in 2023 to 15,000 in 2024.
- spring visitors fell from 15,000 in 2023 to 8,000 in 2024.
- Units: thousands, so 8 means 8,000.
- The claim is about spring and about the size of the increase.
- A: spring went from 8 to 15, and 15 ÷ 8 is about 1.9, so “nearly twice” is correct.
- B is true but is about summer. C is false (winter stayed at 3). D swaps the years.
A city transport office asked students in three grades how they usually get to school. The office reports that students rely less on walking as they get older: ______
| Grade | Walk | Bus | Bicycle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9th | 40% | 45% | 15% |
| 10th | 35% | 40% | 25% |
| 11th | 30% | 35% | 35% |
- 40 percent of 9th graders walk, compared with 30 percent of 11th graders.
- 45 percent of 9th graders take the bus, the largest group in that grade.
- 35 percent of 11th graders ride bicycles, the same share as take the bus.
- 30 percent of 9th graders walk, compared with 40 percent of 11th graders.
- The claim is about walking, from younger to older grades.
- A compares the walking column for 9th and 11th grades and shows a drop from 40 to 30.
- B and C are true but are about the bus and bicycle columns.
- D reverses the grades.
A gardener compared bean seedlings grown in soil with added compost (group A) and in ordinary soil (group B). Both groups began at the same height. He says that compost helped the seedlings more and more as the weeks passed: ______
- group B grew by 2 centimeters every week, from 2 centimeters in week 1 to 8 centimeters in week 4.
- the groups were equal in week 1, and group A was taller by 1 centimeter in week 2, by 3 in week 3 and by 6 in week 4.
- in week 3, group B was 9 centimeters tall and group A was 6.
- in week 4, group A was 9 centimeters tall, 1 centimeter taller than group B.
- The claim is about a gap that grows week by week, so we need the difference between the groups each week.
- Differences: week 1: 0; week 2: 5 − 4 = 1; week 3: 9 − 6 = 3; week 4: 14 − 8 = 6.
- B states exactly these differences.
- A is true but is about group B only. C swaps the groups. D misreads the week 4 bar.
- Picking a choice because its numbers are in the graphicWrong answers use true numbers too. Ask whether the numbers prove the claim.
- Misreading the unitsRead the axis label: “thousands” or “percent” changes the size of every number.
- Using the wrong row, year or columnPut your finger on the group named in the choice and check its value in that exact category.
- Swapping the groups or the directionCheck which group is larger and whether the numbers went up or down, in the right order.
- Believing “doubled” without checkingDivide. 15 ÷ 8 is about 1.9, which is “nearly twice”, but 520 ÷ 310 is only about 1.7.
- Choosing a partial answerIf the claim has two parts, such as a rise and then a fall, the right choice must support both.