Official Explanation
Analyze the information
This is a Graphics Interpretation question. All answers will be based on information from the graph provided. The graph is a standard bar chart with a bar for each of 11 countries. Each bar represents the percent of land used in that country for agricultural purposes.
1. For the countries listed, the median percent of land used for agriculture is approximately
This question asks for the median percent of land used in the countries listed. There are 11 countries in the graph, so the median percent will be the country with the 6th highest (or 6th lowest) percentage, i.e., the one in the middle. Japan and Russia are the two lowest (at about 12% or 13% each). Brazil, Indonesia, and Pakistan are next (each between 30% and 40%). After that, in 6th place, is the United States, at around 45%. That’s the median. To verify, the remaining five countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Mexico, and Nigeria) all have percentages above 50%.
TAKEAWAY: The median value is the middle value in a group of values. When the data are presented visually, simply noting the size of the bars, slices, etc. can be enough to find the median, without reading precise values from the graph.
2. Approximately__________of the countries listed use a smaller percentage of land for agriculture than does India.
This question asks for the percent of the listed countries that use a smaller percent of land for agriculture than India does. India uses about 60% of its land for agriculture. Of the remaining countries listed, 8 of them (Brazil, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States) have percentages below 60%. That’s 8 out of the 11 total countries listed. Convert that to a percentage to get \(\frac{8}{11}×100\)%≈73%. Even without using the calculator, this could be estimated. After all, 8 is more than half (50%) of 11, so 18% and 45% can be eliminated. And 80% would be 8 out of 10, so 8 out of 11 must be smaller, eliminating 82%. Only 73% remains.
TAKEAWAY: When a question seems relatively easy, as when it just involves counting, maintain your focus: you don't want to miss a low-difficulty question due to miscounting!