Combining a Figure and a Sentence

The passage makes a claim. The figure holds a number the sentence never states. The question is really asking: does the number in the figure back up what the sentence says? To answer, pull the exact wording of the claim apart first. A claim like yield fell after 1995 and has not returned to its earlier level has two parts hiding in one sentence: a drop, and a failure to recover. Each part needs its own piece of evidence from the figure, usually a specific bar, point, or cell in a table.

Before you touch the numbers, find which sentence the figure was even placed there for. Figures sit near the claim they're meant to prove, and their units give it away: a chart labeled degrees Celsius backs a sentence about temperature, not one about budget or plant count. Passages often pack several sentences close together, so match units and subject first, then go get the values. Once you know the right sentence, check each clause against its own piece of data rather than skimming the whole figure for a general impression.

This skill sits right after single-source figure questions, where you only had to read a value off a chart. Here you add a second step: deciding whether that value actually proves the sentence next to it. The harder version, where a figure backs only half a two-part claim, is the same task done twice. Treat every claim as a checklist of small testable pieces, and let the figure answer each piece on its own instead of grading the sentence as one lump.