Question:
Statistics allows us to understand the reality. It indicates developmental directions. Statistics is good for exposing reality, but it can also be manipulated to perpetuate untruth and misunderstanding. Data has power to mislead people.
This paragraph best supports the statement that:
Statistics allows us to understand the reality. It indicates developmental directions. Statistics is good for exposing reality, but it can also be manipulated to perpetuate untruth and misunderstanding. Data has power to mislead people.
This paragraph best supports the statement that:
This paragraph best supports the statement that:
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The paragraph turns on the word "but" and ends with "Data has power to mislead people". Pick the option that repeats that ending.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
- Words are more truthful than numbers
- Study of statistics is more important than any other discipline
- Numbers never lie
- Numbers can be used to mislead people.
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The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We must find the statement that the paragraph supports on its own strength. The answer has to be something the writer actually says, not something a reader might feel about statistics.
Step 2: Key Approach:
The paragraph has two halves joined by "but". Whenever a passage is built around "but", the weight of the argument sits in the half that follows it. Read that half carefully and then test the options.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
First half: statistics helps us understand reality and shows the direction of development. This is the positive side.
Second half: statistics can be manipulated to spread untruth and misunderstanding, and data has the power to mislead people. This is the warning, and it is where the paragraph ends.
The closing line, "Data has power to mislead people", is the writer's final point. Statistics is made of numbers, so numbers can be used to mislead people. Option (D) is that line put into simpler words.
Step 4: Why the other options fail:
(A) says words are more truthful than numbers. The paragraph never brings words into the discussion at all, so no comparison between words and numbers exists in the text.
(B) says the study of statistics is more important than any other discipline. The paragraph does not rank statistics against other subjects. It simply describes what statistics can and cannot be trusted to do.
(C) says numbers never lie. This is the exact opposite of the paragraph's warning. The writer says data has the power to mislead, which means the numbers can indeed be turned into a lie by the person handling them.
Step 5: Final Answer:
The paragraph directly supports the idea that numbers can be used to mislead people, so the answer is option (D).
We must find the statement that the paragraph supports on its own strength. The answer has to be something the writer actually says, not something a reader might feel about statistics.
Step 2: Key Approach:
The paragraph has two halves joined by "but". Whenever a passage is built around "but", the weight of the argument sits in the half that follows it. Read that half carefully and then test the options.
Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
First half: statistics helps us understand reality and shows the direction of development. This is the positive side.
Second half: statistics can be manipulated to spread untruth and misunderstanding, and data has the power to mislead people. This is the warning, and it is where the paragraph ends.
The closing line, "Data has power to mislead people", is the writer's final point. Statistics is made of numbers, so numbers can be used to mislead people. Option (D) is that line put into simpler words.
Step 4: Why the other options fail:
(A) says words are more truthful than numbers. The paragraph never brings words into the discussion at all, so no comparison between words and numbers exists in the text.
(B) says the study of statistics is more important than any other discipline. The paragraph does not rank statistics against other subjects. It simply describes what statistics can and cannot be trusted to do.
(C) says numbers never lie. This is the exact opposite of the paragraph's warning. The writer says data has the power to mislead, which means the numbers can indeed be turned into a lie by the person handling them.
Step 5: Final Answer:
The paragraph directly supports the idea that numbers can be used to mislead people, so the answer is option (D).
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