Study the given bar graph and answer the question that follows. The following bar graph shows the number of deaths that happened in cities 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the months mentioned. City → January | February | March | April | May | June CITY 1 — 1080 | 1145 | 980 | 860 | 1458 | 1600 CITY 2 — 869 | 1100 | 1356 | 765 | 1268 | 900 CITY 3 — 765 | 1260 | 862 | 960 | 748 | 1386 CITY 4 — 965 | 1288 | 1498 | 1148 | 1545 | 966 The average number of deaths that occurred during April across all the cities (rounded off to the next integer) is:
- (a)953
- (b)965
- (c)928
- (d)934
Answer
Why
Correct — D. Read the April bar — the fourth in each group — in all four city clusters.
City 1: 860, City 2: 765, City 3: 960, City 4: 1,148
860 + 765 = 1,625
1,625 + 960 = 2,585
2,585 + 1,148 = 3,733
average = 3,733 ÷ 4 = 933.25
The stem asks for the next integer, so 933.25 goes up to 934 → option (d)
Why the others are wrong
- (a)953 — 953 would need an April total of 953 × 4 = 3,812, which is 79 more than the 3,733 the bars actually carry.
- (b)965 — 965 is a number printed on the graph, but it is City 4's January bar. It is not an average of anything.
- (c)928 — 928 would need an April total of 928 × 4 = 3,712. Adding the four yellow bars gives 3,733, so the mean is 933.25.
Concept
Every bar carries its value as a printed label, so nothing here is estimated from bar heights. The reading skill is matching the legend colour to the right bar inside each cluster.
April is the fourth of the six bars in every city group, sitting between March and May — the two months whose values are most often picked up by mistake.
After that it is the mean of four numbers, and then the rounding instruction, which is the part that decides the mark.
Ordinary rounding sends 933.25 down to 933, and 933 is not offered. The stem's phrase rounded off to the next integer has to be read as rounding up.
The option list confirms that reading: 934 is the next integer above 933.25.
Key facts
- April deaths on the graph: City 1 = 860, City 2 = 765, City 3 = 960, City 4 = 1,148.
- Those four total 3,733, so the mean is 3,733 ÷ 4 = 933.25.
- The next integer above 933.25 is 934.
Study next
Common traps
- Averaging the May bars, which stand immediately beside April in every cluster.
- Rounding 933.25 down to 933 when the stem asks for the next integer.
- Dividing by 6, the number of months, instead of by 4, the number of cities.
Averages taken off a bar graph are a standing SSC form: read a few labels, add, divide, then obey a rounding word.
The same shape is asked 23 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.25 (average students present over three days) and 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, Quant Q.16 (average turnover of five companies across two years).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.