Bunuel
Frobnia's economy relies on two major industries. The oil fields in south Frobnia allow the country to export petroleum and the natural landmarks in the north attract hundreds of thousands of tourists each year. Tourism employs more than one-third of working Frobnians, and the oil fields employ less than half as many. However, about half of the population of Frobnia lives in the south.
The information given, if accurate, most strongly supports which of the following?
(A) To remain fully staffed, tourism-related companies in Frobnia must recruit in the south.
(B) Most of the people in Frobnia who are not employed live in the south.
(C) Many employed Frobnians in the south work for petroleum-related companies apart from the oil Öelds, such as refineries.
(D) A higher proportion of Frobnians working in the north work in one of Frobniaís two major industries than the proportion of Frobnians in the south who do.
(E) Frobniaís oil fields are not a major tourist attraction, but a small number of visitors include the oil fields as part of their travel.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
D
The phrase "most strongly supports" indicates an inference question. It's not explicitly an explanation or paradox question, but the passage does have a bit of a discrepancy, between the employment figures in the two regions compared to the different population figures in the two regions.
Choice (A) assumes too much - there may well be enough people in the north to staff tourism-related companies. Beyond that, even if it weren't true, there's no reason the outside recruiting would have to take place in the south. (B) is only true if oil and tourism are the only two industries. Just because they are the largest doesn't mean they are the only ones; they could actually represent a small portion of the economy. (C) explains how more people in the south might be related to the oil industry, but there's no support for this. We don't know that refineries (or other oil-related companies) are in the south, or even in Frobnia at all.
Choice (D) is our answer. We know that more than one-third of working Frobnians work in the tourism industry (which is in the north), while less than one-sixth work in the oil fields (in the south). Thus, a higher proportion of Frobnians work for either tourism or oil in the north than for tourism or oil in the south. (E) is a huge leap, and out of the scope of the passage. We have no idea whether tourists also visit the south. The passage is concerned with employment numbers. Choice (D) is correct.