SAT OwlQuestion bank / Command of Evidence
| Garden | Native plants (% of all plants) | Bee visits per hour, native plants | Bee visits per hour, non-native plants |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 80 | 14.2 | 6.1 |
| B | 50 | 11.8 | 7.4 |
| C | 20 | 9.5 | 8.9 |
An ecologist counted bee visits to flowering plants in three community gardens that differed in the share of their plants that were native to the region. She concluded that in every garden, native plants received more bee visits than non-native plants did, but that this advantage shrank as the share of native plants in a garden decreased.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to support the ecologist's conclusion?
Native plants in Garden A received 14.2 bee visits per hour, more than native plants in either of the other gardens received.
Non-native plants in Garden C received 8.9 bee visits per hour, more than non-native plants in either of the other gardens received.
In Garden B, where half of the plants were native, native plants received 11.8 bee visits per hour and non-native plants received 7.4.
Native plants received 8.1 more visits per hour than non-native plants in Garden A, 4.4 more in Garden B, and only 0.6 more in Garden C.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D
The conclusion has two parts: native plants got more visits in every garden, and the gap got smaller as the native share fell from 80% (A) to 50% (B) to 20% (C). Choice D gives the gap for each garden: 14.2 minus 6.1 is 8.1, 11.8 minus 7.4 is 4.4, and 9.5 minus 8.9 is 0.6. Both parts are shown.
Choice C is accurate and shows native plants ahead in one garden, but it gives no comparison across gardens, so it cannot show the advantage shrinking.
Why the other choices are wrong
- A. This choice only compares native plant visit rates across gardens. It ignores non-native plants entirely, so it cannot show the difference in visits between the two plant types.
- B. This choice focuses solely on non-native plants in Garden C. It does not compare native and non-native plants or show how the gap changes across the different gardens.
- C. While accurate for Garden B, this choice provides no data for the other gardens. It fails to demonstrate the trend of the advantage shrinking as the native plant share decreases.
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