Best Supporting Evidence — Select the best evidence that supports a claim about the text.

People have been arguing about ideas for thousands of years. But what separates a strong argument from a weak one? The answer is evidence — the specific facts, details, or quotations that prove a point is true. Over time, schools and standardized tests like the SHSAT have placed more emphasis on your ability to find the best supporting evidence in a reading passage. Let's look at how this skill became so important.

Today, the SHSAT regularly asks you to pick the answer choice that best supports a claim about a passage. This means you need to know what makes evidence strong versus weak. That is exactly what this lesson will teach you.

Before you can find the best evidence, you need to understand what a claim is. A claim is a statement about the text — something a reader believes is true based on the passage. Supporting evidence is the specific part of the passage that proves the claim is correct. Think of it like a courtroom: the claim is the lawyer's argument, and the evidence is the proof shown to the jury.

The diagram below shows how a claim connects to four possible answer choices. Only one answer is the best supporting evidence. The others are distractors — they might be true, but they don't prove the claim.

Notice how all four choices contain real information from the passage. The trick is that only one choice directly proves the specific claim. The other three are distractors. They might be interesting or true, but they don't answer the question.

To find the best supporting evidence on the SHSAT, you can use a simple three-step strategy. We call it E.A.T. — because you're going to eat through the answer choices one by one.

There are also common distractor types (wrong answers designed to confuse you) that appear again and again on the SHSAT. Learning to recognize them will save you time and boost your score.

Not all evidence looks the same. On the SHSAT, passages include fiction, nonfiction, and informational texts. The type of evidence you need to find depends on the kind of passage and the kind of claim. Here are the main types of textual evidence you'll encounter.

When you read a claim about a character's feelings, look for direct quotations or actions and behaviors. When you see a claim about why something happened, look for cause-and-effect evidence. Matching the evidence type to the claim type is a powerful shortcut.

Let's walk through a full SHSAT-style question together. Read the short passage below, then follow along as we use the E.A.T. strategy.

Question: Which sentence best supports the claim that Marcus is determined to stay at the pier?

• A. "Marcus had always loved the ocean, but today was different." (Sentence 1)
• B. "The waves crashed with a fury he had never seen before." (Sentence 2)
• C. "'We should head back,' his sister Ava said, tugging at his sleeve." (Sentence 4)
• D. "He had promised his grandfather he would fish from this pier every summer, and he was not going to let a storm stop him." (Sentence 6)

Understanding the difference between strong and weak evidence choices is the key to getting these questions right. Let's compare the habits of students who score well on evidence questions with the mistakes that lead to wrong answers.

The skill of finding the best supporting evidence doesn't end with the SHSAT. It is the foundation for more advanced reading and writing skills you'll use throughout high school and college. Let's see how this skill connects to what comes next.

Think of the SHSAT as your training ground. Right now you're practicing with multiple-choice questions. In high school, you'll use the same thinking process when you write literary analysis essays and research papers. The logic is the same: every claim needs proof, and the best proof is the most direct and specific.