SAT · Heart of Algebra · Linear functions and their graphs
Question sat-q-00016
Easy Multiple choice No calculator
The question
What is the slope of the line passing through (0, 1) and (-4, 1)?
- 1/0
- -3
- 0
- 1
Show answer & worked solution
Answer: 0
Worked solution. Slope = (y₂ − y₁) / (x₂ − x₁) = (1 − 1) / (-4 − 0) = 0 / -4 = 0.
Why each wrong choice is wrong. Reversing the subtraction order in the numerator without doing the same in the denominator gives the negative of the slope — a common slip.
Test-day tactic. Pick which point is (x₁, y₁) and which is (x₂, y₂) before computing, and stick with the choice. The order doesn't matter as long as it's consistent.
About this question type
Items here ask you to interpret slope and y-intercept in real-world contexts (revenue per item, cost per minute), to write the equation of a line from two points or from a description, or to identify which graph corresponds to a given equation. The hardest items combine all three at once.
You will see a question shaped like this one on roughly every other official SAT form, typically at an early position in the section, where missing them carries an outsize penalty because the curve assumes everyone in your band gets them right. Treat any miss in this subtopic as a signal to drill the subtopic page before you do another full practice test.