Solution:

Total distance
Average rate =
Total time
3 ( 40 ) + 1( 48 )
Average rate =
3 +1
168
Average rate = = 42 miles per hour
4

Since more of the trip was driven at 40 mph than at 48 mph, the average should be closer to 40 than to 48, which it is.
This will help you to check your answer or to pick out the correct choice in a multiple-choice question.

EXERCISES: CALCULATING MEASURES OF CENTER AND SPREAD

DIRECTIONS: Work out each problem. Circle the letter of your choice.

1. Dan had an average (arithmetic mean) of 72 on his first SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
four math tests. After taking the next test, his average
(arithmetic mean) dropped to 70. Which of the following
is his most recent test grade?

A. 60

B. 62

C. 66

D. 68
521
2. What is the average (arithmetic mean) of 0.64 , 0.85, Chapter 13
9
and ? Data Analysis,
10
Statistics, and
21 Probability
A.
25
B. 2.55

C. 85%
4
D.
5

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018

 3. The costs of five different airlines’ tickets from Dallas to SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
Boston are shown in the table below.

Airline Ticket Cost

A $356

B $298

C $312

D $304

E $283

A sixth airline also offers flights from Dallas to

Boston. The median price of the tickets from the six
airlines, including those shown in the table, is $308.
The range of the ticket prices is $77. What is the cost
of the sixth airline’s ticket?

A. $385

B. $360

C. $279

D. $231

4. A high school theater department is using sale informa-

522 tion from previous years’ sales for the annual musical
to determine how many seats will be needed. The sale
information is shown in the table below.
Chapter 13
Data Analysis,
Statistics, and Year Seats
Probability
2013 185
2014 203

2015 205

2016 197

Which correctly shows the median and range of the

data?

A. Median = 200; Range = 20

B. Median = 204; Range = 12

C. Median = 200; Range = 12

D. Median = 204; Range = 20

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5. What is the average (arithmetic mean) of the first 15 SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
positive integers?

A. 7

B. 7.5

C. 8

D. 8.5

6. A man travels a distance of 20 miles at 60 miles per hour

and then returns over the same route at 40 miles per
hour. What is his average rate for the round trip in miles
per hour?

A. 50

B. 48

C. 47

D. 46

7. Max is selling his car. He looks at the selling prices of the

same type of car at five local car dealerships to determine
a fair price for his car. The selling prices are listed below.

$7,505 $7,630 $7,995 $7,029 $7,135 $7,995

What is the approximate average (arithmetic mean)

selling price for the type of car Max is trying to sell? 523
A. $7,995
Chapter 13
B. $7,548
Data Analysis,
C. $7,512 Statistics, and
Probability
D. $7,505

8. Susan has an average (arithmetic mean) of 86 in three

examinations. What grade must she receive on her next
test to raise her average (arithmetic mean) to 88?

A. 90

B. 94

C. 96

D. 100

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018

 9. The heights of the 5 high jumpers on Redwood High’s SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
track team are 5'11", 6'3", 6', 6'6", and 6'2". What is the
average (arithmetic mean) height of these players?

A. 6'2"

B. 6'3"

C. 6'4"

D. 6'5"

10. The ages of 14 U.S. presidents at inauguration are listed

here in order of their presidencies. Which of the follow-
ing correctly compares the average (arithmetic mean),
median, and mode of their ages?

54 51 60 62 43 55 56 61 52 69 64 46 54 47

A. mode < mean < median

B. mode < median < mean

C. median < mode < mean

D. median < mean < mode

11. A basketball team has 5 top-scoring players. The average

(arithmetic mean) points per game scored by the 5 play-
ers during one season are shown in the list below.

524 15.5, 16.2, 18, 16.5, 17.4

There are 10 games during the season. What is the

Chapter 13 average points scored per player for the season for
Data Analysis, the 5 top scoring players?
Statistics, and
Probability A. 16.72

B. 18.72

C. 134.8

D. 167.2

12. Amaya drives on two types of roads for her trip. She av-
erages 53 miles per hour on city roads and 59 miles per
hour on the highway. Amaya drives her car on a trip that
has twice as many highway miles as city road miles. She
drives a total of 552 miles. What is her average speed for
the whole trip? Round your answer to the nearest whole.

A. 55 miles per hour

B. 56 miles per hour

C. 57 miles per hour

D. 58 miles per hour

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13. Daily low temperatures over a five-day period in Cold- SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
town are listed below. What are the range and median
of the data?

0°F, –16°F, –7°F, –6°F, 2°F

A. Range = 14, Median = 0

B. Range = –14, Median = –7

C. Range = –18, Median = –3

D. Range = 18, Median = –6

14. A statistician computes the average (arithmetic mean),

median, and range of a data set consisting of 65 numbers.
Because one of the numbers in the set is much greater
than all the others, the statistician suspects the number is
an error and recalculates the statistics after removing this
largest value (called an “outlier”). Which of the following
statements is true?

A. After the greatest value is removed, the average,

median, and range must decrease.

B. After the greatest value is removed, the range

must decrease, but the average and median may
not be affected.

C. After the greatest value is removed, the average

and the range must decrease, but the median may
not be affected.
525
D. After the greatest value is removed, the median
Chapter 13
and the range will change, but the average may
Data Analysis,
not be affected.
Statistics, and
Probability

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018

You have seen data that show a linear correlation, which may be represented by a line of best fit. In other cases, data may be
better modeled by quadratic or exponential functions. When given a data set or plotted data, look to see if the data looks linear,
parabolic, or representative of exponential growth or decay. Quadratic and exponential function models may easily be determined
by entering the data into a spreadsheet or graphing calculator and selecting the appropriate function type (quadratic or expo-
nential). The technology will provide output for the equation of the function. (The same procedure can be done with lines of best
fit, as well.) Quadratic and exponential function models can also be estimated using the same sort of procedure described with
the linear correlations above. Just note that not all data sets will be most appropriately modeled by a linear function.

Note that linear growth represents growth by a common difference, whereas exponential growth represents growth
by a common factor. A real-world example of linear growth is simple interest, whereas a real-world example of expo-
nential growth is compound interest.

EXERCISES: DATA INTERPRETATION

DIRECTIONS: Work out each problem. Circle the letter of your choice.

Questions 1–3 refer to the following information.

The scatterplot below shows average monthly feed and labor costs in dollars to raise different numbers of heads of beef cattle.

Feed and Labor Costs

1,000
900
547
Average Monthly Cost

800
700
600 Chapter 13
500
Data Analysis,
400 Statistics, and
300 Probability
200
100
0
0 50 100 150 200 250

Number of Heads of Cattle

1. Which of the following best represents the slope of the SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
line of best fit for this data?

A. 200
1
B.
2
10
C.
9
D. 2

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018

 2. Based on the scatterplot, what is the equation of the line SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
of best fit?

A. y = 200x + 400

B. y = 2x + 320

C. y = 2x + 380
1
D. y = x + 380
2

3. If the trend continued, what would be the average monthly

feed and labor costs to raise 500 heads of beef cattle?

A. $1,380.00

B. $1,000.00

C. $880.00

D. $600.00

Questions 4–6 refer to the following information.

Attended Did Not Attend

Geographic Area No Response Total
College College
Northeast 72,404 68,350 29,542 170,296

Northwest 88,960 125,487 48,960 263,407

548 Southeast 115,488 96,541 65,880 277,909

Southwest 79,880 65,874 13,840 159,594

Chapter 13 Total 356,732 356,252 158,222 871,206

Data Analysis,
Statistics, and A survey was conducted in different geographic areas of a large state, covering the entire state population, pertaining to college
Probability attendance for people over the age of 30. The table above displays a summary of the survey results.

4. According to the table, for which group did the highest SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
percentage of people report that they had attended
college?

A. Northeast

B. Northwest

C. Southeast

D. Southwest

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5. Of the people living in the northeast who reported that SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
they did not attend college, 1,000 people were selected at
random to do a follow-up survey where they were asked if
they were interested in attending adult education classes.
There were 665 people who said they were interested in
attending adult education classes. Using the data from
both the initial survey and the follow-up survey, which of
the following is most likely to be an accurate statement?

A. About 48,149 people living in the northeast who

did not attend college would be interested in
adult education classes.

B. About 45,453 people living in the northeast who

did not attend college would be interested in
adult education classes.

C. About 19,645 people living in the northeast who

did not attend college would be interested in
adult education classes.

D. Most people in the state are not interested in

taking adult education classes.

6. What is the relative frequency of the number of people

who attended college statewide, according to the survey?

A. 0.18

B. 0.41
549
C. 0.43

D. 0.5 Chapter 13
Data Analysis,
Statistics, and
Probability

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018

 Questions 7–8 refer to the following information.

The scatterplot below shows the heights, in inches, and weights, in pounds, of 16 women and men at a health club. The women
are represented by O’s. The men are X’s.

250
230
210
190
Weight

170
150
130
110
90

58 62 66 70 74 78
Height

7. Which is a true statement about the data? 8. Assume the 16 people whose data is plotted in the
scatterplot are a random sample representing the entire
A. The heights and weights are more strongly health club membership. For what height would we
correlated for women than for men, and the slope expect a male and female club member to have roughly
of the line of best fit for women is greater than the the same weight?
slope for men.
550 B. The heights and weights are more strongly
A. 60 inches

correlated for women than for men, and the slope B. 66 inches
Chapter 13
of the line of best fit for men is greater than the
Data Analysis, slope for women. C. 72 inches
Statistics, and
Probability D. Based on the data, we would expect any male club
C. The heights and weights are more strongly
correlated for men than for women, and the slope member to weigh more than a female club
of the line of best fit for women is greater than the member of the same height.
slope for men.

D. The heights and weights are more strongly

correlated for men than for women, and the slope
of the line of best fit for men is greater than the
slope for women.

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9. The scatterplot below depicts the relationship between SHOW YOUR WORK HERE
two variables, x and y. Which of the following best de-
scribes the line that best fits the data in the scatterplot?

x
A. The slope of the line of best fit is −3.

B. The slope of the line of best fit is −1.

C. The slope of the line of best fit is 1.

D. The slope of the line of best fit is 3.

10. Below is a scatterplot depicting the relationship between

the variable a and the variable b. Which of the following
best describes the relationship depicted in the graph?

b 551
Chapter 13
Data Analysis,
Statistics, and
Probability

A. There is a strong positive correlation between the

two variables.

B. There is a strong negative correlation between the

two variables.

C. The two variables are not correlated.

D. As the value of a increases, the value of b

decreases.

Peterson’s SAT® Prep Guide 2018