Question type
"Which finding would support the claim?" questions on the SAT
Find the exact claim, often a hypothesis or prediction, and note what it says causes what. The right finding bears directly on that claim in the direction asked: support makes it more likely, weaken makes it less likely. Wrong choices are true-sounding facts about the topic that leave the claim untouched, or that point the opposite way.
A short text sets out a researcher's hypothesis, conclusion or prediction, and the question asks which finding, if true, would most directly support or weaken it.
College Board's question bank has 40 of these, and 57% are rated Hard: the ones where the claim is a comparison or a cause, so a finding has to match both halves.
- 40 in College Board's question bank, 57% rated Hard
- 47 practice questions of this type
Why students miss it
Relevant but not decisive. A finding about the same animal or place can still say nothing about the specific claim.
The wrong direction: a choice that would weaken the claim when the question asks to support it.
Half a comparison. If the claim is "A grows faster than B", a finding about A alone does not test it.
How to spot it
- "Which finding, if true, would most directly support / weaken / undermine ..."
- A text naming a researcher and a hypothesis, prediction or claim.
The method
Test the exact claim
Put the claim in one sentence: what does the researcher say is true, and why?
- A causal claim
- look for a finding that changes the cause and shows the effect follow.
- A comparison
- the finding must involve both sides.
- Weaken asked
- the finding shows the effect without the cause, or the cause without the effect.
Two real questions
From the 1500prep bank, the way the app shows them. Answer first, then open the explanation.
Along the Atlantic coast of North America, the marsh periwinkle, a small snail, scrapes long cuts into the leaves of cordgrass, and fungi soon colonize the damaged area. Ecologist Brian Silliman noticed that the snails repeatedly return to these cuts and eat the fungus that grows there rather than the grass itself. He hypothesized that the periwinkles are essentially farming the fungi, making the cuts primarily to cultivate a reliable food source and not to feed on the leaves.
Which finding, if true, would most directly support Silliman's hypothesis?
Show the answer and explanationThe answer: Periwinkles kept on cordgrass leaves treated so that fungus could not grow in their cuts lost weight, while those on untreated leaves gained weight.
Ground near the Larrosa caldera has risen several centimeters since 2019, and volcanologists dispute the cause. Volcanologist Nkechi Adeyemi attributes the uplift to magma accumulating several kilometers beneath the surface rather than to heated groundwater circulating closer to it, and she predicts that if her explanation is correct, emissions of sulfur dioxide, a gas released by magma but not by groundwater, will increase as the uplift continues. Monitoring stations around the caldera now measure both quantities daily.
Which statement, if true, would most directly weaken Adeyemi's prediction?
Show the answer and explanationThe answer: Over the past three years, the ground near the caldera has continued to rise while sulfur dioxide emissions there have stayed at the same low level measured before 2019.
Questions students ask
How do you find the answer that supports a claim on the SAT?
State the claim precisely, then pick the finding that would only be expected if the claim were true. Background facts about the topic do not count.
What makes these questions Hard?
Claims that compare two things or name a cause. A finding has to address the whole claim, not one part of it.
Practise this type until it is automatic
Five more support-or-weaken questions, checked instantly, with every wrong choice explained. Free, no card.