The table lists five states and their total 2012 revenue, in millions of USD, from tourism – a category that includes

What we see: a Data Sufficiency question built on a table, the way Data Insights mixes data and logic. We have each state's total tourism revenue, and we must find which state earned the most from hotel stays, which are only one part of tourism.

Step 1. Read the table for what it does and does not tell us.
What we see: B has the most tourism revenue ($300M), then A ($250M), E ($200M), C ($150M), D ($100M).
What it means: hotel stays are a piece of each total, and the piece can be any size from 0 up to the whole total. A big tourism total does not mean a big hotel number.
What we do and why: to name one winner, we need a hotel figure for one state that is surely bigger than every other state's hotel figure.

Step 2. Statement 1.
What we see: for the top two states, B and A, hotel stays were more than 15% of tourism.
What it means: B's hotel earnings are over \(0.15 \times 300 = \$45\)M and A's are over \(0.15 \times 250 = \$37.5\)M. But we know nothing about C, D or E. E could have earned up to $200M from hotels.
What we do and why: no single winner, so statement 1 is not sufficient.

Step 3. Statement 2.
What we see: for the bottom three states, E, C and D, hotel stays were less than 10% of tourism.
What it means: E is under $20M, C under $15M, D under $10M. But A and B have no limit at all here; either could be anywhere from 0 to its total.
What we do and why: we cannot even tell whether A or B beats E. Not sufficient.

Step 4. Use both statements together.
What we see: A is over $37.5M, B is over $45M, and each of C, D and E is under $20M.
What it means: the winner is A or B, since both beat every other state. But nothing compares A and B. A could be $200M with B at $50M (A wins), or A could be $40M with B at $280M (B wins).
What we do and why: two possible winners, so even together the statements are not sufficient.

The trap: C. Once C, D and E are knocked out, it is tempting to pick B because it has the biggest tourism total and the bigger lower limit. But "more than $45M" and "more than $37.5M" are only floors, and a floor never tells you which number is larger.
Faster way: look at what the statements give for A and B: only "more than." Two lower limits can never rank two numbers, so the answer cannot be pinned down even before you do any math.
Takeaway: To rank two values you need an upper limit on one that sits below a lower limit on the other. Two "more than" facts, or two "less than" facts, never rank anything.

Answer: E