16Hit1600
Information and IdeasVery hardInferring substitution rather than net increase

Information and Ideas practice question

When the Weller Street farmers' market began accepting nutrition vouchers—coupons redeemable only for fresh fruits and vegetables—produce sales at the market rose 32 percent in a single season, and organizers cited the figure as proof that the program had drawn a wave of new customers. An outside audit complicated that claim. Over the same season, the market's total revenue rose only 4 percent; vendors of bread, cheese, and prepared foods reported declines; and the number of distinct shoppers recorded at the market each week was essentially unchanged. Taken together, the audit's findings suggest that ______

Which choice most logically completes the text with a conclusion the evidence supports?

  1. A. most of the growth in produce sales came from shoppers redirecting money they would otherwise have spent on other goods at the market rather than from customers the market had not previously had.Correct
  2. B. the voucher program did not succeed in increasing the amount of fresh produce shoppers bought at the market.
  3. C. the market's bread, cheese, and prepared-food vendors would recoup their lost revenue if vouchers could be redeemed for their products as well.
  4. D. the number of shoppers who depended on nutrition vouchers was far smaller than the market's organizers had estimated.

Answer: A. most of the growth in produce sales came from shoppers redirecting money they would otherwise have spent on other goods at the market rather than from customers the market had not previously had.

The audit reconciles a large category-level gain (produce up 32 percent) with a small total gain (4 percent), declines in other categories, and a flat shopper count. The only conclusion that fits all three facts is that the same shoppers shifted spending among vendors, so the produce figure reflects substitution, not new customers. B contradicts the text: produce sales did rise 32 percent, so purchases of produce clearly increased. C is an unsupported policy prediction; nothing in the text establishes what would happen if vouchers were redeemable elsewhere, and the vouchers are defined as produce-only. D invents a comparison the text never makes—no estimate of voucher users, or count of them, is reported; the unchanged figure concerns total shoppers, not voucher holders.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. the voucher program did not succeed in increasing the amount of fresh produce shoppers bought at the market.
The text states produce sales rose 32 percent, so shoppers clearly did buy more produce; the audit questions where that money came from, not whether produce purchases increased.
C. the market's bread, cheese, and prepared-food vendors would recoup their lost revenue if vouchers could be redeemed for their products as well.
Nothing in the text says what would happen if vouchers covered bread or cheese — and the vouchers are defined as redeemable only for fruits and vegetables, so this is a prediction the evidence can't support.
D. the number of shoppers who depended on nutrition vouchers was far smaller than the market's organizers had estimated.
The flat figure in the audit is the count of distinct shoppers overall, not voucher users, and the text never reports any organizer estimate of how many voucher holders there were.

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