integrated reasoning question

This topic has expert replies
User avatar
Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:49 am
Thanked: 6 times

integrated reasoning question

by hellother » Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:12 am
Hello,

Carbon Dioxide Emissions in Tons Per Capita, by Year

Country 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
Austria 0.59 1.66 4.64 2.89 3.02 7.18 7.61
Belgium 2.10 5.08 7.40 10.04 8.83 12.47 11.44
Canada 0.02 0.46 3.78 7.89 11.01 17.11 17.18
Denmark 0.23 0.75 2.06 3.41 5.15 11.00 8.79
France 0.54 1.71 3.19 5.27 4.84 8.47 6.18
Netherlands 1.01 1.43 2.85 4.56 5.07 11.21 10.62
Norway 0.10 0.57 1.86 2.77 2.59 7.40 8.63
Spain 0.03 0.20 0.60 0.86 1.18 5.11 7.40
Sweden 0.06 0.52 1.79 2.14 4.09 9.86 5.57
United Kingdom 5.51 9.34 11.06 10.26 9.99 10.74 9.21
United States 0.84 3.00 8.68 14.70 16.67 20.72 20.34

sorry for the alignment.But that does not matter for the question.
The question is :

For the countries shown in the table, the range of CO2 emissions was higher in 1950 than 1925.

We must choose either "Yes" or "No". The answer is given as "Yes".The explanation given is fairly simple. It just finds the range of CO2 emissions in 1950 and 1925.

But I selected "No" because the data given in the table is " per capita " emissions . So we cannot conclude that the range of CO2 emissions in 1950 and 1925 without actually knowing the total number of people ( population) of each country in any year .

Which is right ? And why ?

User avatar
GMAT Instructor
Posts: 1248
Joined: Thu Mar 29, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 503 times
Followed by:192 members
GMAT Score:780

by Bill@VeritasPrep » Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:21 am
With table questions like this, we can safely interpret that question as asking about what's in the table, not extrapolating beyond that.
Join Veritas Prep's 2010 Instructor of the Year, Matt Douglas for GMATT Mondays

Visit the Veritas Prep Blog

Try the FREE Veritas Prep Practice Test