16Hit1600
Information and IdeasMediumCommand of textual evidence (quantitative): identifying data that weaken a claim

Information and Ideas practice question

To study how tree cover affects surface heating, a research team measured the mean afternoon surface temperature of the pavement in four city parks that differ in the percentage of ground shaded by tree canopy. Park | Canopy cover (%) | Mean afternoon surface temperature (°C) Alder | 15 | 41.2 Birch | 34 | 38.5 Cedar | 52 | 36.1 Dogwood | 71 | 36.4 After reviewing the measurements, a student claims that among these parks, each increase in canopy cover was accompanied by a lower mean afternoon surface temperature.

Which choice best describes data from the table that call the student's claim into question?

  1. A. Alder, which had the lowest canopy cover of the four parks, had the highest mean afternoon surface temperature.
  2. B. Dogwood had a greater canopy cover than Cedar did but a higher mean afternoon surface temperature.Correct
  3. C. Cedar's canopy cover was more than three times Alder's, but Cedar's mean afternoon surface temperature was only about 5 °C lower than Alder's.
  4. D. Birch had a higher mean afternoon surface temperature than both Cedar and Dogwood did.

Answer: B. Dogwood had a greater canopy cover than Cedar did but a higher mean afternoon surface temperature.

The student claims that every increase in canopy cover came with a decrease in temperature. Choice B identifies the one pair of parks that breaks this pattern: Dogwood has more canopy cover than Cedar (71% vs. 52%) yet a higher mean temperature (36.4 °C vs. 36.1 °C), so the claim does not hold for all the parks. (A) states accurate data, but Alder's combination of the lowest canopy and highest temperature is consistent with the claim—this choice reflects the error of selecting supporting data when the question asks for data that undermine the claim. (C) treats the absence of strict proportionality as a counterexample; the student's claim concerns only the direction of change, not the size of the temperature drop relative to the canopy increase, and the temperature did in fact decrease. (D) also reports true values that fit the claim, since Birch has less canopy cover than both Cedar and Dogwood—an error of confirming rather than challenging the claim.

Why the other answers are wrong

A. Alder, which had the lowest canopy cover of the four parks, had the highest mean afternoon surface temperature.
These numbers are accurate, but low canopy paired with the highest temperature supports the student's claim — the question asks for data that undermine it.
C. Cedar's canopy cover was more than three times Alder's, but Cedar's mean afternoon surface temperature was only about 5 °C lower than Alder's.
The claim is only about direction (more canopy, lower temperature), not about proportionality; Cedar's temperature did decrease from Alder's, so this doesn't challenge anything.
D. Birch had a higher mean afternoon surface temperature than both Cedar and Dogwood did.
Birch has less canopy than both Cedar and Dogwood, so its higher temperature fits the claimed pattern rather than breaking it.

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