I08-08

Question

https://gmatclub.com/gmat-focus-tests/resources/import/img/I08-04.png 
 
The graph above illustrates trends in the prevalence of current and former cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 and older, categorized by gender.

According to the information in the chart, the most accurate statement regarding the adult smoker population from 1965 to 2015 is that the percentage of  GRAPH_1_PLACEHOLDER  had  GRAPH_2_PLACEHOLDER  over the fifty-year period.

Bunuel · Answer

Official Solution:

Let's evaluate the change in the four categories given in the first drop-down.
 
• The percentage of current female smokers decreased from approximately 35% to 15%, which is more than twice. Since this option is not available in the second drop-down, we eliminate it.
 
• The percentage of former male smokers increased from approximately 20% to 25%, which is a 25% increase. Since this option is not available in the second drop-down, we eliminate it.
 
• The percentage of females who never smoked increased from approximately 100% - (35% + 8%) = 57% to 100% - (13% + 20%) = 67%, which is about a 20% increase. Since this option is not available in the second drop-down, we eliminate it.
 
• The percentage of males who never smoked increased from approximately 100% - (52% + 20%) = 28% to 100% - (18% + 25%) = 57%, which is approximately doubling. Since this option is available in the second drop-down, this is the correct answer.

Correct answer:

Dropdown 1:  "males who never smoked"

Dropdown 2:  "approximately doubled"

Bunuel · Answer

I have revised the question, solution, and formatting by adding more details to enhance clarity

Dereno · Answer

Nice question and structured explanation.

tanmaygmat2425 · Answer

Bunuel   bb  How can we do 100-(former+current). There could be certain overlap between former and current smokers?

Bunuel · Answer

No, there's no overlap between former and current smokers. These categories are mutually exclusive, someone is either a current smoker, a former smoker, or has never smoked. So it's valid to calculate the percentage of never smokers as 100% minus the sum of current and former smokers.

tanmaygmat2425 · Answer

Bunuel  thanks much for your reply but how do we get this part "there's no overlap between former and current smokers" from the question stem

Bunuel · Answer

We can apply basic logic here: a person can’t be both a current and a former smoker at the same time. If someone is still smoking, they’re current, if they’ve quit, they’re former. So by definition, the categories don’t overlap, and it’s valid to do 100 - (current + former) to get the percentage who never smoked.

amoeba99 · Answer

Given that  percentage of current female smokers decreased from approximately 35% to 15%, it a  decrease by approximately 20%  over the 50 year period, which is also one of the options. Why is this not a correct answer?

Bunuel · Answer

The drop from 35% to 15% is a 20 percentage point decrease, but in terms of percent change, it's about a 57% decrease:

(35 - 15)/35 ≈ 0.571.

So "decreased by 20%" is incorrect. It’s a 57% decrease, not 20%, which is why that option doesn’t fit.

hbhura · Answer

I like the solution - it’s helpful.

I08-08

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