Step 1: Understand the wording.
"300% higher" means 300% more than the original, so the new value is 100% + 300% = 400% of the original. This is the part students often get wrong, because they read it as 300% of the original.
So the surface area of B is 4 times the surface area of A.
Step 2: Key formulas.
For a sphere of radius \(r\):
1. Surface area \(= 4\pi r^{2}\).
2. Volume \(= \dfrac{4}{3}\pi r^{3}\).
Step 3: Find the ratio of the radii.
Let the radii of A and B be \(r_A\) and \(r_B\). Then
\[ \frac{4\pi r_B^{2}}{4\pi r_A^{2}} = 4 \implies \frac{r_B^{2}}{r_A^{2}} = 4 \implies \frac{r_B}{r_A} = 2 \]
So B has twice the radius of A.
Step 4: Find the ratio of the volumes.
Volume depends on the cube of the radius, so
\[ \frac{V_B}{V_A} = \left(\frac{r_B}{r_A}\right)^{3} = 2^{3} = 8 \]
Take \(V_A = 1\) unit. Then \(V_B = 8\) units.
Step 5: Find how much lower A is than B.
The volume of A is lower than the volume of B, so the base for the percentage is the volume of B.
\[ k = \frac{V_B - V_A}{V_B} \times 100 = \frac{8 - 1}{8} \times 100 = \frac{7}{8} \times 100 = 87.5 \]
So A is 87.5% lower than B.
Step 6: Why the other options fail.
Options 1, 2 and 3 (85.5, 92.5 and 90.5) do not match the value \(\frac{7}{8} \times 100 = 87.5\) that the calculation gives. If a student wrongly treats "300% higher" as 3 times the area, the radius ratio becomes \(\sqrt{3}\) and the answer comes out near 80.8, which is also not in the list. Only 87.5 agrees with the correct reading.
Final Answer:
The volume of A is 87.5% lower than the volume of B, so \(k = 87.5\), which is option 4.
\[ \boxed{87.5\ \text{(Option 4)}} \]