16Hit1600
Information and IdeasVery hardReading a pattern that reverses

Information and Ideas practice question

Annual rainfall and wheat yield on one farm: 2020: 410 mm, 3.1 tonnes per hectare 2021: 520 mm, 3.9 tonnes per hectare 2022: 640 mm, 4.0 tonnes per hectare 2023: 760 mm, 3.4 tonnes per hectare

Which statement is best supported by the data?

  1. A. Yield rose with rainfall up to a point, but the wettest year produced a lower yield than the two years before it.Correct
  2. B. Yield increased every year as rainfall increased.
  3. C. The driest year produced the highest yield.
  4. D. Rainfall had no discernible relationship to yield.

Answer: A. Yield rose with rainfall up to a point, but the wettest year produced a lower yield than the two years before it.

Yield climbs from 3.1 to 3.9 to 4.0 as rain increases, then falls to 3.4 in the wettest year, 2023. Choice A describes both the rise and the reversal.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. Yield increased every year as rainfall increased.
2023 was the wettest year, and its yield FELL to 3.4.
C. The driest year produced the highest yield.
The driest year, 2020, had the LOWEST yield, 3.1.
D. Rainfall had no discernible relationship to yield.
There is a clear pattern — rising, then falling — so 'no relationship' is wrong.

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