The table gives information about the vehicle types and models that an

Official Explanation

1.1 Because all four of the automaker’s sedans are Fuel efficient—that is, they average more than 30 mpg on the highway—it is true that the average highway fuel consumption of all the automaker’s sedans is greater than 30 mpg.

Answer: Inferable

1.2. The lowest possible value of the average highway fuel consumption of all the automaker’s models will occur if each model gets the lowest possible highway fuel consumption. Assume that the nine fuel-efficient models get exactly 30 miles per gallon on the highway, and that the remaining six models get 0 miles per gallon on the highway. Then the sum of the fuel consumption of all fifteen models is 270 miles per gallon, and the average of all fifteen models is 18 miles per gallon. Since the fuel-efficient models get more than 30 miles per gallon, it is inferable that the average highway fuel consumption of all the automaker’s models is greater than 18 miles per gallon.

Answer: Inferable

1.3. It is true that the lowest and highest starting prices in the sedan category are higher than the corresponding prices in the compact category, but this does not prove that the average starting price of all sedans is higher than the average starting price of all compacts. You can be certain that the lowest and highest starting prices in each row give the starting prices for two of the four cars of each type, but you cannot infer anything about the starting prices of the other two cars of each type. If the starting prices of the four cars in each category are evenly distributed within the range of starting prices for that category, then the average starting price of all compact cars is, indeed, lower than the average starting price of all sedans. On the other hand, it is possible that three of the four compacts all have the highest starting price of $25,000, and one has the lowest starting price of $17,000, in which case their average starting price is $23,000, while three of the four sedans all have the lowest starting price of $19,500, and one has the highest starting price of $28,000, in which case their average starting price is $21,625. In this scenario, the average starting price of all compact cars is greater than the average starting price of all sedans. (Incidentally, the questions in this Table Analysis set were actually answerable without any re-sorting of the table.)

Answer: Not inferable