Self-paced
The advanced technology of ski boots and bindings has brought a dramatic drop in the incidence of injuries that occur on the slopes of ski resorts: from 9 injuries per 1,000 skiers in 1950 to 3 in 1980. ██ █ ███████ ███ █████████ ██ ███████████ █████████ █████ ████████ ███ ████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██ █ ███ ██████ ███ ███ ██ ███ ███████ ████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ███████████ ████████ ██ ████ ██ ██ ███████ ██ █████ ███ █████████ ██ █████ █████████ █████████ █████████ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ██████ █████████ ████ ███ ██████ ██ ███████ ████████ ███ ██████
Stimulus Breakdown
The stimulus gives us a lot of information, and we'll need to keep track of the details to find the correct answer. We can start by laying out all the facts to make sure we're clear on them. This is what we know:
(1) ski boot and binding technology improved between 1950 and 1980;
(2) ski-related injuries are divided into injuries on the slopes and all other injuries on a ski resort's premises;
(3) "other" ski-related injuries increase as skiers drink more alcohol;
(4) in 1950, there were 9 slopes injuries per 1,000 skiers;
(5) in 1980, there were 3 slopes injuries per 1,000 skiers;
(6) in 1950, other injuries made up 10 percent of all ski-related injuries;
(7) in 1980, other injuries made up 25 percent of all ski-related injuries.
When looking at answer choices, remember to read closely with an eye for detail. Just one or two imprecise words can be the difference between the correct answer and a trap, so make sure to test answer choices carefully.
17.
Which one of the following █████████ ████ ███████████ ██ ███ ████████
a
The number of ███ ████████ ████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ███ ███████ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████
At first glance, (A) looks promising: we know slopes injuries declined from 1950 to 1980, right? But the stimulus tells us that the incidence, or rate of injuries has declined. We don't know about the absolute number of injuries. So (A) could be true.
The rate/number distinction is essential here, because the number of injuries is the rate multiplied by the number of skiers. Without knowing the number of skiers, we can't translate between rate and number of injuries. If there were many more skiers in 1980 than in 1950, the rate could decline while the number increased.
b
A skier was ████ ██████ ██ ██ ███████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ████ ████ ██ █████
(B) directly contradicts the stimulus' claim that rates of slope injuries declined from 1950 to 1980. If the stimulus' claims are all true, (B) must be false.
(B) wins out over the similar answer choice (A) because (B) sticks to rates rather than numbers of injuries. A skier's likelihood of being injured depends on the rate of injury, which is something the stimulus addresses.
c
The reporting of ███ ████████ ██████ ████ ████████ ███████ ████ ███ █████
The stimulus doesn't say anything about the accuracy of reporting, so we have no baseline information to compare (C) against. (C) could be true, since we don't know anything about reporting to begin with.
d
The total number ██ ██████ ███████ ███████ ████ ███ █████
The stimulus never mentions the total number of skiers, so (D) could be true. Without having anything set down by the stimulus, pretty much any claim about the number of skiers could be true.
e
Some ski-related injuries ████████ ██ ████ ██ ██████ ███ ████ ███ ███████
The stimulus doesn't define who can be affected by ski-related injuries. It really doesn't mention non-skiers at all. So (E) could be true—there's no contradictory claim in the stimulus.