Item — sat-dog

? Reading and Writing · None · None · MCQ Q13

13 Percentage of US Congress Members Who Self-Identified as Veterans, 1953–2023 Year House of Representatives Senate Since the nation’s earliest days, both houses of the United States Congress have counted many military veterans among their elected officials, including Hiram L. Fong (who served in the US Army Air Force) and Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. (who served in the US Army). A research institute gathered historical data about congressional members who have reported past military experience and determined that b l a n k Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph to complete the sentence?

A
from 2003 to 2023, the House of Representatives had a higher percentage of those members than the Senate did.
B
from 1953 to 2003, those members constituted a majority in both houses of Congress.
C
the percentage of those members decreased substantially in both houses of Congress from 1973 to 2013.
D
the percentage of those members remained fairly consistent, regardless of house, from 1993 to 2023.

Correct answer: C (parsed from the explanation — this source omits an answer key for this item)

Explanation

Choice C is the best answer because it accurately uses data from the graph to complete the statement regarding the research institute’s findings about veteran representation in Congress. The graph shows that the percentage of veterans in both houses of Congress decreased dramatically from 1973 to 2013. In 1973, the House of Representatives consisted of approximately 74% veterans, and the Senate was made up of approximately 79% veterans. By 2013, veteran members of both houses had fallen to approximately 17%–18%. This represents a substantial decrease of more than 50% in each house over this 40-year period. Choice A is incorrect because from 2003 to 2023, the House of Representatives did not consistently have a higher percentage of veterans than the Senate did. According to the graph, in 2003 the Senate was made up of approximately 35% veterans, while the House consisted of approximately 23% veterans. In 2013, the number of veterans in the Senate was still slightly higher (approximately 18%) than in the House (approximately 17%). Only in 2023 did the House have a marginally higher percentage than the Senate. Choice B is incorrect because veterans did not constitute a majority in both houses throughout the entire period shown in the graph from 1953 to 2003. According to the graph, both houses had a majority of veterans in 1953 (approximately 62% in the House and approximately 74% in the Senate) and in 1973 (approximately 74% in the House and approximately 79% in the Senate), but by 1993 the House had fallen below 50% to approximately 40% veterans. By 2003, both houses were well below 50%. Choice D is incorrect because the percentage of veterans in Congress did not remain consistent from 1993 to 2023. The graph shows significant changes in the number of members reporting past military service during this period, particularly the continued decline from 1993 to 2003. In 1993, the House had approximately 40% veterans and the Senate had approximately 63% veterans, but by 2003 these percentages had dropped to approximately 23% and 35%, respectively. Furthermore, there was a large gap between the two houses in 1993 that narrowed considerably by 2013, which contradicts the claim that the percentage of veterans across both houses “remained fairly consistent” during this period.

Source: Full-length SAT practice tests 4–11 © College Board, published free at satsuite.collegeboard.org. View the official question bank →

Extracted from PDF layout: equations, figures and tables do not survive intact. Use the original PDFs for anything the text renders poorly. SAT® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this project.