Reading & Writing Practice Section: Quantitative Evidence

Question 1:

In the United States, firms often

seek incentives from municipal
governments to expand to those
municipalities. A team of political
scientists hypothesized that
municipalities are much more
likely to respond to firms and
offer incentives if expansions
can be announced in time to
benefit local elected officials
than if they can’t. The team
contacted officials in thousands
of municipalities, inquiring about
incentives for a firm looking to
expand and indicating that the
firm would announce its
expansion on a date either just
before or just after the next
election.

Which choice best describes

data from the graph that weaken
the team’s hypothesis?

A - A large majority of the municipalities that received an inquiry mentioning plans for an
announcement before the next election didn’t respond to the inquiry.
B - The proportion of municipalities that responded to the inquiry or offered incentives didn’t
substantially differ across the announcement timing conditions.
C - Only around half the municipalities that responded to inquiries mentioning plans for an
announcement before the next election offered incentives.
D - Of the municipalities that received an inquiry mentioning plans for an announcement date
after the next election, more than 1,200 didn’t respond and only around 100 offered incentives.
Question 2:

Employing high-performance liquid chromatography—a process that uses pressurized water to

separate material into its component molecules—astrochemist Yashiro Oba and colleagues
analyzed two samples of the Murchison meteorite that landed in Australia as well as soil from
the landing zone of the meteorite to determine the concentrations of various organic molecules.
By comparing the relative concentrations of types of molecules known as nucleobases in the
Murchison meteorite with those in the soil, the team concluded that there is evidence that the
nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite formed in space and are not the result of contamination
on Earth.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support the team’s conclusion?

A - Adenine and xanthine were detected in both of the meteorite samples and in the soil
sample.
B - Isoguanine and hypoxanthine were detected in the Murchison meteorite sample 1 but not in
sample 2.
C - Isoguanine and purine were detected in both meteorite samples but not in the soil sample.
D - Hypoxanthine and purine were detected in both the Murchison meteorite sample 2 and in
the soil sample.
Question 3:

Urbanization, industrialization, and the

warming climate create thermal pollution
(excess heat) in the shallow subsurface
soil. Susanne A. Benz and colleagues
analyzed thousands of sites on three
continents under one scenario in which
surface temperature remains at the current
level and under another in which the
surface reaches the maximum plausible
temperature. They then categorized each
site according to the percentage of local
home heating needs that could be met
using this excess subsurface heat. The
team concluded that if surface temperature
approaches the maximum plausible level,
the percentage of sites where thermal
pollution could feasibly contribute to
meeting home heating needs will increase.

Which choice best describes data in the

graph that support Benz and colleagues’
conclusion?

A - Under both temperature conditions, less than 10% of sites were in the up-to-25% group, but
at the maximum plausible surface temperature, almost 80% of sites could have all their local
heating needs met by thermal pollution.
B - At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites have no need for supplemental
local home heating from subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface
temperature, more than 70% of sites exhibit significantly greater home heating needs.
C - At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of sites can meet, at most, 25% of local
home heating needs with subsurface thermal pollution, but at the maximum plausible surface
temperature, more than 80% of sites can meet greater than 25% of local home heating needs.
D - At current surface temperatures, more than 80% of the sites cannot use subsurface thermal
pollution to meet any portion of local home heating needs, but at the maximum plausible surface
temperature, that percentage drops below 20%.
Question 4:

Researcher Xiaolu Jia and colleagues monitored individuals’ velocity and the surrounding crowd
density as a group of study participants walked through a space and navigated around an
obstacle. Participants rated how congested it seemed before the obstacle, after the obstacle,
and overall, and the researchers correlated those ratings with velocity and density. (Correlations
range from −1 to 1, with greater distance from 0 indicating greater strength). The researchers
concluded that the correlations with velocity are stronger than those with density.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support the researchers’ conclusion?

A - The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and density is further from 0
than the correlation between overall congestion rating and velocity is.
B - The correlation between congestion ratings before the obstacle and velocity is further from 0
than the correlation between congestion overall and velocity is.
C - For each of the three ratings, the correlation with velocity is negative while the correlation
with density is positive.
D - For each of the three ratings, correlations with velocity are further from 0 than the
corresponding correlations with density are.

Question 5:

A sociology student is reading an essay on

the median age of first marriage in Western
countries throughout the twentieth century.
The author of the essay cites factors
common to these countries that the author
believes caused an increase in the median
age of first marriage, such as new
technologies that shortened the time needed
for domestic chores, making two-person
households less necessary and living alone
more viable.
The student asserts that beyond these factors there must be additional ones specific to
particular Western countries that influenced the increase of age at first marriage.

Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph that support the student’s assertion?

A - Between 1970 and 2000, the median age of first marriage rose more sharply for men in
England and Wales than it did for men in the United States.
B - Between 1900 and 2000, the median age of first marriage for women in England and Wales
was consistently higher than for women in the United States, as was the case for men.
C - The median age of first marriage for men in England and Wales was lower in 1970 than in
1950 or 1990.
D - In England and Wales, the
median age of first marriage
was consistently higher for
men than for women between
1900 and 2000, but this was
not always the case in the
United States.

Question 6:

The Bureau of Transportation

Statistics releases an annual
traffic data report for U.S.
airlines and foreign airlines
serving the U.S. This release
includes data on U.S. airlines’ domestic and international flights (including from one foreign
point to another foreign point), as well as on foreign airlines’ flights to and from the U.S.
The data show an increase in the number of passengers on all types of flights in the system in
2019. However, the increase in passengers on domestic flights was greater than the increase in
passengers on international flights: from 2018 to 2019, ______

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

A - there was a 4.3% increase in domestic passengers, but only a 3.8% increase in passengers
on U.S. airlines’ international flights, and only a 1.2% increase in passengers on foreign airlines’
U.S. flights.
B - there was a 4.2% increase in passengers on U.S. airlines’ domestic and international flights,
but only a 1.2% increase in passengers on foreign airlines’ U.S. flights.
C - there was a 3.9% increase in passengers across all flights, but there was a 3.8% increase in
passengers on U.S. airlines’ international flights, and a 1.2% increase in passengers on foreign
airlines’ U.S. flights.
D - there was a 3.9% increase in passengers across all flights and a 4.2% increase in
passengers on U.S. airlines’ domestic and international flights.
Question 7:

Research suggests that REM sleep

in animals is homeostatically
regulated: animals compensate for
periods of REM sleep deprivation by
increasing subsequent REM sleep.
When on land, fur seals get enough
REM sleep, but during the weeks
they’re in the water, they get almost
none. In a study of fur seals’ sleep
habits, researchers recorded the
REM sleep (as a percentage of
baseline) of fur seals once they had
returned to land. They concluded that
REM sleep may not be
homeostatically regulated in fur
seals, citing as evidence the fact that
the seals in the study ______

Which choice most effectively uses

data from the graph to complete the
text?

A - showed no significant differences from one another in baseline levels of REM sleep.
B - didn’t show significantly less REM sleep during the second day after returning to land than
they did during the first day.
C - didn’t consistently demonstrate a significant increase in REM sleep after their period of
deprivation in the water.
D - showed no significant difference between REM sleep after returning to land and REM sleep
while in the water.
Question 8:

Researchers Xinyu Li, Weihua Ma, et. al.

conducted a study on the effects of different
temperatures and humidity levels on the
survival of bees from the species Apis
mellifera. Worker bees were placed in
temperature- and humidity-controlled
boxes. Temperatures of 35°C, 40°C, and
45°C at constant relative humidity (RH),
and RH levels of 50%, 60%, and 70% at
constant temperature were tested. The bee
survival time for each box was calculated
as the total number of hours at which all
bees had died. Based on their findings, the
researchers claim that at a constant
temperature, increasing humidity tended to
decrease the bees’ survival time.

Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the researchers’ claim?

A - At 35°C, the survival time of A. mellifera bees at 60% RH and 70% RH was significantly
lower than at 50% RH.
B - At 40°C, the differences in the survival times among the 50% RH, 60% RH, and 70% RH
groups were not significant.
C - At 70% RH, the survival time of A. mellifera was significantly lower at 45°C than at 35°C and
40°C.
D - At 50% RH, the survival time of A. mellifera was significantly lower at 40°C and 45°C than at
35°C.
Question 9:

To assess the impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Africa, Benis N. Egoh and
colleagues reviewed government reports from those nations about how invasive species are
undermining ecosystem services (aspects of the ecosystem on which residents depend). The
services were sorted into three categories: provisioning (material resources from the
ecosystem), regulating (natural processes such as cleaning the air or water), and cultural
(nonmaterial benefits of ecosystems). Egoh and her team assert that countries in each region
reported effects on provisioning services and that provisioning services represent the majority of
the reported services.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support Egoh and colleagues’ assertion?

A - Provisioning services represent 73% of the services reported for the West region and 33% of
those for the Central region, but they represent 75% of the services reported overall.
B - None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%, and the
overall percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.
C - Provisioning services are shown for each region, while no cultural services are shown for
some regions.
D - The greatest percentage shown for provisioning services is 88% for the North region, and
the least shown for provisioning services is 33% for the Central region.
Question 10:

Ecologist Veronika Bókony and colleagues investigated within-species competition among

common toads (Bufo bufo), a species that secretes various unpleasant-tasting toxins called
bufadienolides in response to threats. The researchers tested B. bufo tadpoles’ responses to
different levels of competition by creating ponds with different tadpole population densities but a
fixed amount of food. Based on analysis of the tadpoles after three weeks, the researchers
concluded that increased competition drove bufadienolide production at the expense of growth.

Which choice uses data from the table to most effectively support the researchers’ conclusion?

A - The difference in average tadpole body mass was small between the low and medium
population density conditions and substantially larger between the low and high population
density conditions.
B - Tadpoles in the low and medium population density conditions had substantially lower
average bufadienolide concentrations but had greater average body masses than those in the
high population density condition.
C - Tadpoles in the high population density condition displayed a relatively modest increase in
the average amount of bufadienolide but roughly double the average bufadienolide
concentration compared to those in the low population density condition.
D - Tadpoles produced approximately the same number of different bufadienolide toxins per
individual across the population density conditions, but average tadpole body mass decreased
as population density increased.
Question 11:

In Caddo, a language from what is now the US Southeast, vocabulary pertaining to corn
cultivation resembles equivalent vocabulary in the Totozoquean language family in Mexico. This
resemblance is perhaps attributable to cultural contact: such words could have entered Caddo
through the intermediary of the neighboring but unrelated Chitimacha language, concurrent with
the dissemination of corn itself from Mexico into the Southeast after 700 CE. That the
vocabulary pertaining to domestic crops accompanies them as they diffuse into new regions is
an established phenomenon globally. Crops may also be decoupled from vocabulary altogether:
corn cultivation became ubiquitous among the Southeastern tribes, yet ______

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

A - the origins of vocabulary pertaining to the crop vary across languages in the region, with the
words for corn in Cherokee and the Muskogean languages showing no demonstrable
relationship to Totozoquean vocabulary.
B - words for corn in the languages of the Muskogean family evolved from a common root, with
the Muscogee word having lost certain consonant sounds still present in the Chickasaw and
Choctaw words.
C - corn-related vocabulary underwent changes when entering other, unrelated languages, as
can be seen by the divergence of the Caddo word from the Chitimacha word it originated in.
D - the region is linguistically diverse, being home not only to Chitimacha and Caddo, but also to
the Muskogean language family (including Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Muscogee) and to one
Iroquoian language (Cherokee).
Question 12:

Economist Steve H. Hanke has shown that divided US Congresses—which occur when one
party holds the majority in the House of Representatives and another holds the majority in the
Senate—tend to accompany reductions in total federal outlays (spending) relative to gross
domestic product (GDP), which Hanke interprets to reflect decreases in government size. Hanke
calculated the percentage point change in total outlays (encompassing nondefense and defense
outlays) for consecutive US Congresses. Hanke has pointed to his calculations as evidence that
a divided Congress may be a “necessary but not sufficient condition” for a decrease in
government size to occur.

Which choice best describes data from the table that support the underlined claim?

A - The periods of undivided Congresses were associated with increases in nondefense

outlays, whereas all the periods of divided Congresses except one were associated with
reductions in defense outlays.
B - All the periods of divided Congresses except one were associated with reductions in total
outlays, whereas the periods of undivided Congresses were associated with increases in total
outlays.
C - All the periods of divided Congresses were associated with reductions in total outlays,
although two periods were also associated with increases in nondefense outlays.
D - The periods of undivided Congresses were associated with increases in total outlays,
whereas all the periods of divided Congresses were associated with reductions in either
nondefense outlays or defense outlays.