20 easy SAT Command of Evidence — Quantitative questions

These are the questions most test-takers get right. They are worth practising anyway: on the digital SAT the easy questions in Module 1 are what route you into the harder, higher-scoring Module 2, so dropping one costs more than it looks.

Every question below is a real item from the SAT Climb bank, tagged easy by the same difficulty model the app uses to build your practice. Pick an answer before you open the explanation.

Reading & Writing · Information and Ideas~3 per testEasy tier

None of these repeat the 25 hard Command of Evidence — Quantitative questions, so the two pages together are 45 different questions on this one skill.

Question 1Easy

Country	Coffee Production 2015 (million kg)	Coffee Production 2020 (million kg)
Brazil	2595	3558
Vietnam	1460	1650
Colombia	825	858
Indonesia	639	754

Coffee is one of the most traded agricultural commodities in the world, and production levels vary significantly by country. A recent analysis of global coffee markets examined how production changed between 2015 and 2020. The data show that the largest increase in coffee production during this period occurred in ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why A is right

Choice A is correct because it accurately identifies Brazil as having the largest increase in coffee production between 2015 and 2020. Subtracting Brazil's 2015 production from its 2020 production yields 3558 - 2595 = 963 million kg, which is greater than the increases for Vietnam (190 million kg), Colombia (33 million kg), and Indonesia (115 million kg).

Why the others are wrong

BThis choice incorrectly attributes the 963 million kg increase to Vietnam. Vietnam's actual increase was only 190 million kg (1650 - 1460).
CThis choice reverses the direction of change. Brazil's production increased, not decreased, between 2015 and 2020.
DThis choice uses the wrong value. The 858 million kg figure is Colombia's 2020 production level, not Brazil's production increase.

Question 2Easy

Museum	Visitors in January	Visitors in July
National Gallery	145000	298000
Science Museum	178000	412000
History Museum	92000	201000
Art Institute	203000	267000

Museum attendance patterns often reflect seasonal tourism trends, with summer months typically drawing larger crowds than winter months. A cultural organization analyzed visitor data from four major museums to understand seasonal variation. The data reveal that the museum with the smallest increase in visitors from January to July was the ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why B is right

Choice B is correct because the Art Institute had the smallest increase in visitors from January to July. The calculation is 267000 - 203000 = 64000 visitors, which is smaller than the increases for the National Gallery (153000), Science Museum (234000), and History Museum (109000).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies the Science Museum as having the smallest increase. The Science Museum actually had the largest increase at 234000 visitors.
CThis choice reverses the direction of change. The Art Institute's visitors increased, not decreased, from January to July.
DThis choice confuses the History Museum's January visitor count (92000) with its increase. The actual increase was 109000 visitors.

Question 3Easy

Period	Pottery Fragments Found	Metal Tools Found
Early Bronze Age	342	87
Middle Bronze Age	456	134
Late Bronze Age	389	201
Early Iron Age	278	245

Archaeologist David Chen excavated a site in central Anatolia to understand how material culture changed over successive historical periods. Chen catalogued artifacts by type and chronological layer. His findings indicate that while pottery fragments were common throughout all periods, the period in which metal tools were most abundant relative to pottery was the ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why B is right

Choice B is correct because the Early Iron Age had the highest ratio of metal tools to pottery fragments, with 245 metal tools compared to only 278 pottery fragments, making it the period where metal tools were most abundant relative to pottery.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice identifies the Middle Bronze Age but only reports the pottery fragment count, which doesn't address the relationship between metal tools and pottery.
CThis choice incorrectly identifies the Late Bronze Age and only reports metal tool count without considering the relative abundance compared to pottery fragments.
DThis choice incorrectly identifies the Middle Bronze Age, which had a much lower ratio of metal tools (134) to pottery (456) compared to the Early Iron Age.

Question 4Easy

Author	Books Published 1800-1810	Books Published 1811-1820
Jane Austen	2	4
Walter Scott	0	9
Maria Edgeworth	5	3
Fanny Burney	1	0

The early nineteenth century was a prolific period for British literature, with several authors achieving prominence through their novels. A literary historian examining publication patterns found that the author who showed the greatest increase in books published between the two decades was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why A is right

Choice A is correct because Walter Scott had the greatest increase in books published, going from 0 books in 1800-1810 to 9 books in 1811-1820, an increase of 9 books. This exceeds Jane Austen's increase of 2 books and is greater in absolute terms than Maria Edgeworth's decrease.

Why the others are wrong

BThis choice reverses the direction of change. Walter Scott's book production increased, not decreased, from the first decade to the second.
CThis choice confuses Maria Edgeworth's production in the first decade (5 books) with an increase. Her production actually decreased by 2 books.
DThis choice incorrectly attributes Walter Scott's increase to Jane Austen. Jane Austen's actual increase was only 2 books.

Question 5Easy

Species	Average Weight (kg) in Protected Area	Average Weight (kg) in Unprotected Area
Red Deer	185	167
Wild Boar	92	89
Roe Deer	24	21
Mouflon	48	43

Wildlife biologist Anna Kovacs investigated whether habitat protection affects the physical condition of large mammals in European forests. Kovacs measured average body weights of four species in both protected reserves and unprotected forest areas. Her data revealed that the species showing the greatest weight difference between protected and unprotected habitats was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why D is right

Choice D is correct because red deer showed the greatest weight difference at 18 kg (185 kg in protected areas versus 167 kg in unprotected areas), which exceeds mouflon (5 kg), wild boar (3 kg), and roe deer (3 kg).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies mouflon as showing the greatest weight difference, when mouflon's 5 kg difference was smaller than red deer's 18 kg difference.
BThis choice incorrectly identifies wild boar as showing the greatest weight difference, when wild boar's 3 kg difference was much smaller than red deer's 18 kg difference.
CThis choice correctly identifies red deer but reports the protected area weight instead of calculating the difference between protected and unprotected areas.

Question 6Easy

City	Average Daily Temperature in January (°C)	Average Daily Temperature in July (°C)
Stockholm	-3	18
Oslo	-5	17
Helsinki	-6	17
Copenhagen	1	17

Scandinavian cities experience significant seasonal temperature variation due to their northern latitudes. Climate researchers analyzing weather patterns across the region found that the city with the largest temperature difference between January and July is ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why D is right

Choice D is correct because Helsinki has the largest temperature difference between January and July. The calculation is 17 - (-6) = 23 degrees Celsius, which exceeds Stockholm (21 degrees), Oslo (22 degrees), and Copenhagen (16 degrees).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice confuses Helsinki's July temperature (17°C) with the temperature difference between the two months. The actual difference is 23 degrees.
BThis choice incorrectly identifies Oslo as having the largest difference and uses the wrong value. Oslo's difference is 22 degrees, not 17.
CThis choice uses the absolute value of Helsinki's January temperature rather than calculating the difference. It also reverses the direction of subtraction.

Question 7Easy

Country	Forest Area 2010 (million hectares)	Forest Area 2020 (million hectares)
Brazil	546	497
China	207	220
Indonesia	94	92
Australia	125	134

Environmental scientists tracking global forest coverage have observed varying trends across different countries over the past decade. While some nations have experienced deforestation due to agricultural expansion and urban development, others have implemented successful reforestation programs. The data indicate that between 2010 and 2020, forest area increased most substantially in ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why B is right

China showed the largest increase in forest area, gaining 13 million hectares (from 207 to 220 million hectares) between 2010 and 2020, which represents the most substantial growth among the countries listed.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly calculates the change for Brazil. Brazil actually lost 49 million hectares (from 546 to 497), not gained.
CThis choice selects the wrong country. While Indonesia did lose 2 million hectares (making the gain statement incorrect), the question asks for the country with the most substantial increase.
DThis choice is numerically close to the correct answer but represents Australia's gain of 9 million hectares (from 125 to 134), which is less than China's 13 million hectare increase.

Question 8Easy

Spacecraft	Launch Year	Distance from Earth in 2023 (billion km)
Voyager 1	1977	24.0
Voyager 2	1977	20.1
Pioneer 10	1972	19.8
New Horizons	2006	8.7

Since the 1970s, several spacecraft have been launched to explore the outer solar system and beyond. These missions continue to transmit data even after decades in space. Space agency records show that as of 2023, the spacecraft that has traveled the farthest from Earth is ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why C is right

Choice C is correct because Voyager 1 has the greatest distance from Earth at 24.0 billion km, which exceeds the distances of Voyager 2 (20.1 billion km), Pioneer 10 (19.8 billion km), and New Horizons (8.7 billion km).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies Pioneer 10 as the farthest spacecraft. Pioneer 10's distance of 19.8 billion km is less than Voyager 1's 24.0 billion km.
BThis choice incorrectly identifies Voyager 2 as the farthest spacecraft. Voyager 2's distance of 20.1 billion km is less than Voyager 1's 24.0 billion km.
DThis choice confuses the launch year column with the distance column. The 1977 value represents Voyager 1's launch year, not its distance from Earth.

Question 9Easy

Play	Performances in 2015	Performances in 2019
Hamlet	87	132
Macbeth	104	98
Romeo and Juliet	156	201
Othello	73	119

Shakespeare's plays continue to be performed regularly in theaters worldwide, though the popularity of individual works varies over time. A theater industry report examining production trends found that the play with the greatest increase in performances between 2015 and 2019 was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why C is right

Choice C is correct because Romeo and Juliet had the greatest increase in performances at 45 (201 - 156). This exceeds the increases for Hamlet (45 performances) and Othello (46 performances), while Macbeth decreased by 6 performances.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies Othello as having the greatest increase. Othello's increase of 46 performances is actually slightly larger than Romeo and Juliet's 45.
BThis choice confuses Hamlet's 2015 performance count (87) with its increase in performances. The actual increase was 45 performances.
DThis choice reverses the direction of change. Romeo and Juliet had more performances in 2019 than in 2015, not fewer.

Question 10Easy

[TABLE: Material | Thermal Conductivity

(W/m\cdot K)

| Density (kg/

m^{3}

) Copper | 401 | 8960 Aluminum | 237 | 2700 Steel | 50 | 7850 Titanium | 22 | 4500] Engineers selecting materials for heat dissipation applications must balance thermal performance against weight considerations. Thermal conductivity measures how efficiently a material transfers heat, with higher values indicating better heat transfer. For applications where both heat dissipation and low weight are priorities, the data suggest that aluminum is an effective choice because it has _____

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why A is right

The passage emphasizes both heat dissipation and low weight. Aluminum has a density of 2700 kg/ $m^{3}$ (the lowest among metals with high thermal conductivity) and thermal conductivity of 237 $W/m\cdot K$ , making it suitable for both requirements.

Why the others are wrong

BThis incorrectly assigns titanium's density (4500 kg/m³) to aluminum while keeping aluminum's thermal conductivity.
CThis gives copper's thermal conductivity (401 W/m·K) instead of aluminum's, though the density value is correct.
DThis combines aluminum's low density with copper's higher thermal conductivity, mixing data from two different materials.

Question 11Easy

Crop	Yield per Hectare (kg) in Conventional Farming	Yield per Hectare (kg) in Organic Farming
Wheat	7200	5800
Corn	9500	7100
Soybeans	3400	2900
Barley	5600	4700

Agricultural economist Maria Chen studied crop yields across different farming methods to evaluate the productivity differences between conventional and organic practices. Chen found that while organic farming often produces lower yields per hectare than conventional farming, the crop with the smallest difference in yield between the two methods was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why A is right

Choice A is correct because soybeans had the smallest difference between conventional (3400 kg) and organic (2900 kg) farming at 500 kg per hectare, compared to wheat (1400 kg), barley (900 kg), and corn (2400 kg).

Why the others are wrong

BThis choice incorrectly identifies barley as having the smallest difference, when barley's difference of 900 kg per hectare is larger than soybeans' 500 kg difference.
CThis choice incorrectly identifies corn, which had the largest difference at 2400 kg per hectare, not the smallest.
DThis choice correctly identifies soybeans but reports the organic farming yield value instead of calculating the difference between conventional and organic methods.

Question 12Easy

Museum	Visitors in January	Visitors in February
National Gallery	145000	168000
History Museum	89000	102000
Science Center	203000	198000
Art Institute	112000	134000

A cultural foundation analyzed visitor patterns at four major museums to determine which experienced the largest percentage increase in attendance from January to February. Their analysis revealed that the museum with the highest percentage growth was the ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why C is right

Choice C is correct because the Art Institute increased from 112000 to 134000 visitors, a gain of 22000, which represents approximately 20 percent growth, the highest percentage increase among the four museums.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice provides a percentage that is close but not the highest; the National Gallery had only a 16 percent increase compared to the Art Institute's 20 percent.
BThis choice confuses absolute visitor counts with percentage increase; while the Science Center data is from the table, it actually had a decrease, not an increase.
DThis choice selects a different museum with a lower percentage; the History Museum had only a 13 percent increase.

Question 13Easy

Country	Renewable Energy (TWh) in 2015	Renewable Energy (TWh) in 2023
Germany	194	267
Spain	103	141
Italy	109	127
France	94	136

The European Union has set ambitious targets for increasing renewable energy production across member states. Environmental analyst Sofia Martinez examined data on renewable energy generation in terawatt-hours (TWh) for four major European countries between 2015 and 2023. Martinez notes that while all four countries increased their renewable energy output during this period, the country with the highest renewable energy generation in 2023 was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why C is right

Choice C is correct because it accurately identifies Germany as having the highest renewable energy generation in 2023 at 267 TWh, which is higher than Spain (141 TWh), France (136 TWh), and Italy (127 TWh).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies Italy as the country with the highest renewable energy generation in 2023, when Italy actually had the lowest at 127 TWh.
BThis choice incorrectly identifies Spain as having the highest renewable energy generation in 2023, when Spain's 141 TWh was second-highest but still below Germany's 267 TWh.
DThis choice correctly identifies Germany but uses the 2015 value (194 TWh) instead of the 2023 value (267 TWh).

Question 14Easy

Trade Route	Distance (kilometers)	Travel Time in 1650 (days)
Mediterranean Circuit	3200	45
Silk Road Eastern	6800	180
Atlantic Triangle	9600	90
Indian Ocean Route	5400	120

Historian Michael Torres analyzed the efficiency of major 17th-century trade routes by calculating the average daily distance traveled. His calculations revealed that merchants on the route with the fastest average daily travel speed were those using the ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why D is right

Choice D is correct because the Atlantic Triangle route covered 9600 kilometers in 90 days, yielding an average speed of approximately 107 kilometers per day, which is the fastest among all routes.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice provides a daily speed that is close to but slower than the correct answer; the Mediterranean Circuit averaged 71 kilometers per day compared to the Atlantic Triangle's 107.
BThis choice confuses total distance with daily travel speed; citing the total distance does not indicate the fastest average speed.
CThis choice selects a different route and cites travel time rather than calculating speed; the Silk Road Eastern was actually the slowest route.

Question 15Easy

Lake	Nitrogen Level (mg/L) in Spring	Nitrogen Level (mg/L) in Fall
Lake Superior	0.18	0.21
Lake Michigan	0.34	0.29
Lake Huron	0.22	0.25
Lake Erie	0.67	0.71

Environmental scientists monitoring water quality in the Great Lakes measured nutrient concentrations across different seasons to assess pollution levels and ecosystem health. Chemist Rebecca Foster analyzed nitrogen levels in four of the Great Lakes during spring and fall sampling periods. Foster's data showed that the lake with the lowest nitrogen level in the fall was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why D is right

Choice D is correct because Lake Superior had the lowest nitrogen level in the fall at 0.21 mg/L, which is lower than Lake Huron (0.25 mg/L), Lake Michigan (0.29 mg/L), and Lake Erie (0.71 mg/L).

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies Lake Huron as having the lowest fall nitrogen level, when Lake Huron's 0.25 mg/L was higher than Lake Superior's 0.21 mg/L.
BThis choice correctly identifies Lake Superior but uses the spring value (0.18 mg/L) instead of the fall value (0.21 mg/L).
CThis choice incorrectly identifies Lake Michigan as having the lowest fall nitrogen level, when Lake Michigan's 0.29 mg/L was higher than Lake Superior's 0.21 mg/L.

Question 16Easy

Museum	Visitors in June	Visitors in July
National Gallery	485000	523000
Tate Modern	612000	589000
British Museum	698000	735000
Science Museum	441000	468000

London's major museums track visitor numbers throughout the year to assess public engagement and plan staffing needs. Cultural researcher James Park analyzed visitor data for four prominent museums during the summer months. Park observes that while most museums saw increased attendance from June to July, the museum that experienced a decrease in visitors during this period was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why B is right

Choice B is correct because Tate Modern was the only museum that experienced a decrease in visitors, dropping from 612000 in June to 589000 in July, while all other museums showed increases.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies the British Museum, which actually experienced an increase in visitors from 698000 in June to 735000 in July.
CThis choice incorrectly identifies the National Gallery, which experienced an increase in visitors from 485000 in June to 523000 in July.
DThis choice correctly identifies Tate Modern but uses the June value (612000) instead of the July value (589000), which doesn't support the claim about a decrease.

Question 17Easy

Country	Forest Area in 2000 (million hectares)	Forest Area in 2020 (million hectares)
Brazil	574	496
China	177	220
Indonesia	91	92
Russia	809	815

Environmental researchers studying global forest coverage found that while some countries experienced deforestation between 2000 and 2020, others successfully increased their forest areas through reforestation programs. The data show that the country with the greatest increase in forest area during this period was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why B is right

Choice B is correct because the table shows China's forest area increased from 177 million hectares in 2000 to 220 million hectares in 2020, a gain of 43 million hectares, which is the largest increase among all countries listed.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice reverses the arithmetic direction by treating Brazil's loss as a gain; Brazil actually lost 78 million hectares.
CThis choice identifies a country with a smaller increase; Russia added only 6 million hectares compared to China's 43 million.
DThis choice selects the wrong country; Indonesia added only 1 million hectare, far less than China's increase.

Question 18Easy

Author	Books Published in 1920s	Books Published in 1930s
Virginia Woolf	4	6
F. Scott Fitzgerald	3	1
Ernest Hemingway	2	5
William Faulkner	1	7

Literary historian Catherine Brown examined the publishing patterns of four major modernist writers across two decades to understand how their productivity evolved during the interwar period. Brown notes that while some authors maintained or increased their output in the 1930s, one author published significantly fewer books in the 1930s than in the 1920s. That author was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why D is right

Choice D is correct because F. Scott Fitzgerald was the only author who published significantly fewer books in the 1930s (1 book) than in the 1920s (3 books), representing a decrease in output.

Why the others are wrong

AThis choice incorrectly identifies William Faulkner, who actually increased his output from 1 book in the 1920s to 7 books in the 1930s.
BThis choice correctly identifies F. Scott Fitzgerald but only provides the 1930s value without the context of the 1920s comparison needed to show the decrease.
CThis choice incorrectly identifies Ernest Hemingway, who increased his output from 2 books in the 1920s to 5 books in the 1930s.

Question 19Easy

Museum	Visitors in May	Visitors in June
National Gallery	245000	312000
Science Museum	198000	176000
History Museum	167000	189000
Art Institute	134000	141000

Cultural tourism researchers examining seasonal patterns in museum attendance found that most major museums experience increased visitation during the summer months. However, the data reveal an exception: the Science Museum actually saw a decline, with visitors dropping from 198000 in May to ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why C is right

Choice C is correct because it accurately uses data from the table to show the Science Museum's June attendance. The table indicates that the Science Museum had 198000 visitors in May and declined to 176000 visitors in June.

Why the others are wrong

AThis incorrectly uses the National Gallery's June attendance instead of the Science Museum's.
BThis incorrectly uses the Science Museum's May attendance instead of its June attendance, failing to show the decline.
DThis incorrectly uses the History Museum's May attendance, which is numerically close to but different from the Science Museum's June attendance.

Question 20Easy

Company	Revenue (millions) in Q1	Revenue (millions) in Q2
TechVision	245	289
DataCore	312	298
CloudNet	178	215
SoftPro	267	281

Business analyst Kevin Martinez tracks quarterly financial performance across the technology sector to identify trends in company growth and market positioning. Martinez examined revenue reports for four software companies during the first half of the year. His analysis showed that among these companies, the one with the highest revenue in Q2 was ______

Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text?

Show the answer and explanation

Why A is right

Choice A is correct because DataCore had the highest revenue in Q2 at 298 million dollars, which exceeds TechVision (289 million), SoftPro (281 million), and CloudNet (215 million).

Why the others are wrong

BThis choice incorrectly identifies TechVision as having the highest Q2 revenue, when TechVision's 289 million dollars was lower than DataCore's 298 million dollars.
CThis choice correctly identifies DataCore but uses the Q1 value (312 million) instead of the Q2 value (298 million).
DThis choice incorrectly identifies SoftPro as having the highest Q2 revenue, when SoftPro's 281 million dollars was lower than DataCore's 298 million dollars.

What to do after easy

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Questions are written by SAT Climb and drawn from its own item bank. SAT® is a registered trademark of College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse SAT Climb.

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