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One shmoop or two? The following graph shows points representing
the relationship between the amount of time spent walking per week and cholesterol levels
of various people. It’s also a pretty good diagram of what
the red blood cells look like in those higher-cholesterol people…
Based on the graph, which statement is most likely to be supported by the data?
And here are the potential answers: Can we read a scatter plot? Well, that’s
what it’s asking anyway.
Let’s go through the potential answers one by one.
So A says “Cholesterol levels increase as the amount of time spent walking increases.”
Hm… well if A were to be true, the dots would follow this kind of line like from the
origin up and to the right about a 45 degree angle – yet here, we don’t see that at
all… so A is false.
B. “Cholesterol levels decrease as the amount of time spent walking increases.”
Well B is sorta true – yes, they do decrease but not dramatically.
We’re looking for the BEST answer here so let’s keep reading.
C. “Cholesterol levels remain steady as the amount of time spent walking increases.”
Hm – no – they definitely decline – just not all that much. But C is definitely false.
OK… D. “There is no relationship between a person's cholesterol level and the amount
of time spent walking per week.”
D might be true… but it looks like there clearly is a pattern here – just not a dramatic
one.
If it was dramatic, the line would look like this…
…and, well, our nation’s sidewalks might be more crowded.
But ok, clearly the BEST answer is B.
As in, “Bypass surgery.”