Command of Evidence SAT question

Choice D is the best answer because it most effectively uses data from the table to complete the text’s discussion of Attari and her team’s survey results. The text states that the team asked respondents to identify the most effective action people can take to save energy, with the team classifying each action as either an efficiency or a curtailment. According to the text, respondents named curtailments more often than they did efficiencies. The text then offers an example that begins by citing a curtailment, turning off the lights, that was selected by a relatively high percentage of respondents (19.6%). Given that the example is presented in support of the idea that more respondents selected curtailments than efficiencies, the most effective way to complete the example is by citing an efficiency, using efficient light bulbs, that was selected by a relatively low percentage of respondents (only 3.6%).

Choice A is incorrect because it inaccurately describes data in the table. The data indicate that 6.3% of respondents said the most effective action was to change the thermostat setting, not to use efficient cars or hybrids. Choice B is incorrect because it inaccurately describes data in the table. The data indicate that 2.8% of respondents said the most effective action was to use efficient cars/hybrids, not to change the thermostat setting. Choice C is incorrect because it mentions a curtailment (using a bike or public transportation) and not an efficiency. The text states that a research team asked respondents to identify the most effective action people can take to save energy, with the team classifying each action as either an efficiency or a curtailment. According to the text, respondents named curtailments more often than they did efficiencies. The text then offers an example that begins by citing a curtailment, turning off the lights, that was selected by a relatively high percentage of respondents (19.6%). Given that the example is presented in support of the idea that more people selected curtailments than efficiencies, the most effective way to complete the example is not by referring to another curtailment but rather by referring to an efficiency that was selected by a relatively low percentage of respondents.