Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
A practice map, drawn for this examplePractice map, made up for this example. The places are not real.Practice numbers, made up for this example.
Which statement does the map support?A. More people live in East Bend than in any other district.B. Northfield has the most people, because it is the largest district.
C. People crowd into East Bend because it has the best jobs.
D. About the same number of people live in Old Mill and in East Bend.
- Read the title and the legend first. The title says the map shows where the people of Hart County live. The legend says one dot stands for 1,000 people. So each dot is a group of people, not one person.
- Look for the pattern: where do the dots crowd together, and where do they thin out? East Bend, the district at the top right, is crowded with dots: 20 of them. Northfield, Old Mill, and Southport have only a few each.
- So the map supports A: more people live in East Bend than in any other district.
- B is the size trap. Northfield is the largest district on the map, but it has only 3 dots. A big area is not the same as many people. And its word because asks the map for a reason it does not give.
- C may sound sensible, but nothing on the map is about jobs. A map shows where people live, not why. D is contradicted by the dots: Old Mill has 6, East Bend 20.
- A conclusion the map supports uses only what the map shows.
Answer: A
Example 2
A practice map, drawn for this examplePractice map, made up for this example. The places are not real.Practice numbers, made up for this example.
Which question can this map NOT answer?A. Which district has the largest share of homes with internet service?B. How many homes in Bridgeton have internet service?
C. Is the share higher in Summit than in Lowland?
D. Which district has a share under 40 percent?
- Read the title and the legend. The shades show a share: what percent of the homes in each district have internet service. The darkest shade is 80 percent or more; the palest is under 40 percent.
- Now test each question against the map. A: find the darkest shade. Clearwater has it. The map can answer A.
- C: Summit is gold, 40 to 59 percent; Lowland is pale, under 40. Summit’s share is higher, so the map can answer C. D: the palest shade belongs to Lowland, so the map can answer D.
- B asks how many homes. A percent tells how common something is, not how many. Bridgeton’s shade says 60 to 79 percent of its homes, but the map never says how many homes Bridgeton has, so it cannot give a number. That is B.
- This is the trap the lesson warns about: an answer that assumes the map shows something it does not.
Answer: B
Where this is taught: Skills Quiz 3, Reading maps: First, the idea · Skills Quiz 3: the worked example · Skills Diagnostic, Part 3
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 1, Lesson 6: Interpret Data and Statistics · Map of the Terrain, topic 3: Reading maps
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Read what is in the box first. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read what is in the box first. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.