Evaluating Evidence | The Complete SAT Course - Class 10 PDF Download

What's on the test?

During your official SAT, you may encounter 1 question that requires you to evaluate the author's use of evidence in the passage. This question might also ask you to assess how a new piece of evidence would impact the claims made in the passage. Example questions could include:

• What is the author's technique in the last paragraph to reinforce the main point?
• If this finding is true, how would it weaken the researchers' conclusions in the passage?

Your task is to analyze how the referenced evidence contributes to either strengthening or undermining the argument presented in the passage.

Common errors

Incorrect choices on evaluating evidence questions are often caused by the following errors:

• Irrelevant information: Wrong choices may include details that are not relevant to the argument being assessed. While these details might be somewhat related to the passage's subject, they do not directly support or weaken the specific claim under investigation. Thus, they cannot be the correct answer to an evidence question.
• Misplaced evidence: In questions that focus on evidence from a specific paragraph, incorrect choices may refer to information or arguments from other parts of the passage. It is important to concentrate only on the portion of the passage specified in the question.
• Near misses: Some wrong answer choices may contain partial correctness, but they include one or two words that invalidate the entire choice. These words make the choice incorrect, even if other aspects of it are accurate. For example, a wrong choice might correctly identify that an author uses quotations but incorrectly explain how those quotations relate to the author's argument.

Tips and strategies

• Look beyond the specifics: When asked to identify a "technique" employed by the author, focus on the structure of the text rather than its content. Look for the use of quotations, rhetorical questions, or patterns in sentence construction. These stylistic features may not relate directly to the passage's topic, but they are indicative of the techniques used by the author. Remember, the goal is to determine the type of evidence employed, not to evaluate its specific details.
• Express it in your own words: When asked to select evidence that "weakens" or "undermines" a particular argument, start by ensuring that you understand the original argument. Restate the claim in your own words, and then compare it to the choices to find one that contradicts your version.
• Consider skipping the question: Questions that require you to choose evidence that weakens an argument are generally more challenging and time-consuming. If time is a constraint for you during the Reading Test, it may be beneficial to skip these questions altogether and focus on easier ones. Remember to make an educated guess if you do skip, as you might still get the correct answer by chance.