INTERPRETING GRAPHS
The SAT is obsessed with data and graphs, and there are many types of graphs
that it can include in a problem. Depending on your familiarity with graphs,
these might seem more or less frightening. But one thing is certain: Graph
problems take time. So if you can familiarize yourself with these graph types
now, then you’ll save yourself oodles of time on test day.
Line Graphs
The first thing to do when you see a graph is to “tell the story of the graph.” This
means that first and foremost you need to understand the axes. Take a look.
What’s the story here? The title of the graph is the first hint: We’re talking
about how much fuel the United States consumes. Our x-axis is time, our y-axis
is the number of barrels. So in 1995, the United States consumed a bit more than
300 barrels, right? Be careful, the axis is labeled “Fuel (in millions of barrels),”
so in 1995 the United States consumed a bit more than 300 million barrels. This
climbed to about 370-ish million barrels in 2000, then declined, then rose again.
Pretty straightforward, right? Line graphs are not terribly intimidating, once you
know to look at the axes. But let’s crank this up a notch.
Pro Tip: Beware! Graphs are often used for multiple
problems! Whenever you see a graph of any type on the