The state with the greatest fraction of its population in urban areas

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The passage states that of all the states, California has the greatest fraction of its population (91 out of 100) living in urban areas. That means only 9 out of every 100 California residents live in rural areas. The greatest fraction of any other states’ population living in urban areas, to be smaller than California’s fraction, must be 90 or fewer out of every 100. That means that, in every other state, 10 or more out of every 100 residents live in rural areas. Since 9 out of every 100 is smaller than 10 or more out of every 100, so A is the correct answer.

B is incorrect. In order to decide whether this statement is true, it is necessary to know about rates of population growth. No such information is provided in the passage. The third answer choice is also incorrect. Since 96 percent of the land is outside urban areas, 4 percent is inside urban areas. Thus, 91 percent of the population lives on 4 percent of the land. The fourth answer choice is incorrect. The passage does not provide enough information to determine whether this statement is true or false. No comparison is made between the amount of land area in California devoted to urban settlement and the amount of land area in other states devoted to urban settlement. E is incorrect. The passage does not provide sufficient information to determine whether this statement is true or false. Information on the actual size of the population as compared to total land area of California and other states would be necessary to make a judgment about population density in these states.