Graphical Literacy & Media Criticism
MA 321 — Test 3
- Try each question yourself first.
- Use the Nudge only if you get stuck — it is a strategy, not the answer letter.
- Trust printed numbers over how tall a bar looks.
Chart / graphic for the next questions
According to the numbers printed on the bars, what is the actual difference between the two satisfaction scores?
- A. 2 points
- B. 4 points
- C. 6 points
- D. 8 points
Compared to SparkleCola's score, FreshFizz's score is actually about how much higher?
- A. About 50% higher
- B. About 25% higher
- C. About 5% higher
- D. Exactly 3 times higher
What design choice makes the FreshFizz bar appear roughly three times as tall as the SparkleCola bar?
- A. The vertical axis starts at 82 instead of 0, so a 4-point gap is stretched across most of the chart's height.
- B. The two bars are drawn in different colors.
- C. The bars are labeled with the wrong drink names.
- D. Satisfaction scores cannot be displayed with bar charts.
Measured from the chart's baseline of 82, what is the ratio of the two bars' visible heights?
- A. About 1.05 to 1
- B. 2 to 1
- C. 4 to 1
- D. 3 to 1
What is the most direct way to redraw this chart so the bars honestly represent the scores?
- A. Use a pie chart instead of bars.
- B. Start the vertical axis at 0, so each bar's full height is proportional to its actual score.
- C. Remove the numbers from the axis entirely.
- D. Draw both bars in the same color.
Which statement about this advertisement is accurate?
- A. SparkleCola's actual score is less than half of FreshFizz's score.
- B. The two drinks' scores differ by more than 10 points.
- C. The visual suggests a much larger gap than the 4-point difference that actually exists.
- D. The chart shows FreshFizz earned a perfect score on the 100-point scale.
Chart / graphic for the next questions
Which category receives the largest share of the city budget?
- A. Education
- B. Public Safety
- C. Infrastructure
- D. Administration
The total budget is $80 million. How many dollars go to Public Safety?
- A. $25 million
- B. $16 million
- C. $20 million
- D. $40 million
Together, do Education and Public Safety account for more or less than half the budget?
- A. Less than half.
- B. More than half — 65% combined.
- C. Exactly half.
- D. It cannot be determined from a pie chart.
How many dollars does the Parks department receive?
- A. $10 million
- B. $4 million
- C. $16 million
- D. $8 million
In dollars, how much more does Infrastructure receive than Parks?
- A. $10 million
- B. $8 million
- C. $16 million
- D. $4 million
Which claim is supported by the budget chart?
- A. Administration spending exceeds Parks spending.
- B. Education receives more than Public Safety and Infrastructure combined.
- C. Education and Public Safety together account for almost two-thirds of the budget.
- D. Parks receives exactly one-fifth of the budget.
Chart / graphic for the next questions
Data table
| Year | Enrollment |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 4,200 |
| 2017 | 4,500 |
| 2018 | 5,000 |
| 2019 | 5,500 |
| 2020 | 6,100 |
| 2021 | 6,800 |
| 2022 | 7,400 |
| 2023 | 7,900 |
| 2024 | 7,600 |
| 2025 | 7,200 |
According to the full data table, how much did enrollment actually fall between 2023 and 2025?
- A. 300 students
- B. 700 students
- C. 7,000 students
- D. 400 students
Over the full decade shown in the table (2016 to 2025), how did enrollment change?
- A. It fell by 700 students.
- B. It grew by 2,800 students.
- C. It grew by 3,400 students.
- D. It grew by 3,000 students.
What is the percent decline from 2023 to 2025?
- A. About 9%
- B. About 7%
- C. About 10%
- D. About 5%
The news graphic's headline reads “ENROLLMENT COLLAPSE.” What makes this framing misleading, given the full table?
- A. The reporter used the wrong type of chart for time data.
- B. Line charts cannot display enrollment data.
- C. The numbers in the graphic are fabricated.
- D. The graphic shows only the three most recent years, hiding a decade in which enrollment grew by over 70%.
What is the percent growth in enrollment over the full decade (2016 to 2025)?
- A. 30%
- B. 58%
- C. About 71%
- D. About 42%
A reader wants to judge whether Westfield College is really in trouble. Which additional information would help most?
- A. The full multi-year enrollment history, so the recent dip can be seen in context.
- B. The names of the students who left.
- C. A 3D version of the same three-year chart.
- D. The same three years redrawn with an even more truncated axis.
The commute data shows how four categories make up 100% of the student body. Which display most directly shows how the parts form the whole?
- A. A line chart
- B. A pie chart
- C. A scatterplot
- D. A 3D area chart
The library also tracked visitors for each of the 12 months last year. Which display best shows the trend across the year?
- A. A line chart
- B. A pie chart
- C. A single bar for the yearly total
- D. An unsorted list of the 12 numbers
A magazine prints the commute data as a 3D pie chart, with the Bike slice tilted toward the viewer. What is the problem with 3D pie charts?
- A. 3D charts cannot display percentages.
- B. The colors become too hard to tell apart.
- C. Perspective makes the slice tilted toward the viewer appear larger than its true share.
- D. 3D charts always make every category look smaller.
Out of the 480 students surveyed, how many take the bus?
- A. 45 students
- B. 216 students
- C. 240 students
- D. 120 students
A newspaper bar chart draws the “Bus” bar twice as wide as the other bars. Which charting principle does this violate?
- A. Bars must always be sorted from tallest to shortest.
- B. Bar charts may not use more than one color.
- C. The vertical axis must always use a logarithmic scale.
- D. Bars must be equal width so that height alone represents the value — a wider bar covers more ink and exaggerates its category.
Chart / graphic for the next questions
Chart / graphic for the next questions
Data table
| Year | Crime rate per 1,000 residents |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 50 |
| 2021 | 48 |
| 2022 | 46 |
| 2023 | 42 |
| 2024 | 44 |
| 2025 | 45 |
Which statement is supported by the commute data?
- A. More students walk than take the car and bike combined.
- B. The bus carries fewer than half of all students.
- C. Exactly one-quarter of students bike.
- D. Car riders outnumber walkers.