For each of Questions 1 to 9, compare Quantity A and Quantity B, using additional information centered above the two quantities

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问题 For each of Questions 1 to 9, compare Quantity A and Quantity B, using additional information centered above the two quantities if such information is given. Select one of the following four answer choices and fill in the corresponding oval to the right of the question.
(A)Quantity A is greater.
(B)Quantity B is greater.
(C)The two quantities are equal.
(D)The relationship cannot be determined from the information given.
A symbol that appears more than once in a question has the same meaning throughout the question.


选项

答案B

解析 This problem involves a normal distribution with mean 200 and standard deviation 10. Thus, the value of 210 is 1 standard deviation above the mean, and the value of 220 is 2 standard deviations above the mean. To compare Quantity A with Quantity B, it is not necessary to exactly determine the probability of the event that the value of Y is greater than 220. Remember that in any normal distribution, almost all of the data values, or about 95% of them, fall within 2 standard deviations on either side of the mean. This means that less than 5% of the values in this distribution will be greater than 220. Thus, the probability of the event that the value of Y is greater than 220 must be less than 5%, or 1/20, and this is certainly less than1/6. The correct answer is Choice B.
    Another approach to this problem is to draw a normal curve, or "bell-shaped curve," that represents the probability distribution of the random variable Y, as shown in the figure below.

    The curve is symmetric about the mean 200. The values of 210, 220, and 230 are equally spaced to the right of 200 and represent 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations, respectively, above the mean. Similarly, the values of 190, 180, and 170 are 1, 2, and 3 standard deviations, respectively, below the mean. Quantity A, the probability of the event that the value of Y is greater than 220, is equal to the area of the shaded region as a fraction of the total area under the curve.
    From the figure, you can see that the area under the normal curve has been divided into 6 regions and that these regions are not equal in area. The shaded region is one of the two smallest of the 6 regions, so its area must be less than 1/6 of the total area under the curve. The correct answer is Choice B.
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本试题收录于: GRE QUANTITATIVE题库GRE分类
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