ms. sutton recorded the word counts and scores of the top ten essays in a timed writing contest. the table…
ms. sutton recorded the word counts and scores of the top ten essays in a timed writing contest. the table shows her data.\nwinning essay length\n| essay rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| essay score | 9.7 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 7.0 |\n| word count | 324 | 352 | 337 | 318 | 299 | 304 | 290 | 291 | 278 | 250 |\nhow does the word count of an essay relate to its score in the contest?\n- word count tends to decrease as the score decreases.\n- word count tends to increase as the score decreases.\n- word count tends to remain constant as the score decreases.\n- word count has no apparent relationship to the score of the essay.
Answer
Explanation:
Step1: Analyze Score Trend
Essay scores: 9.7, 9.5, 9.5, 9.0, 8.9, 8.9, 8.5, 8.4, 8.2, 7.0. Overall, scores decrease as rank increases (from 1 to 10).
Step2: Analyze Word Count Trend
Word counts: 324, 352, 337, 318, 299, 304, 290, 291, 278, 250. As scores decrease (rank 1 to 10), word counts generally decrease (e.g., rank 10 has lowest score and lowest word count; rank 1 has high score and moderate word count, but rank 2 has high score and higher word count, but overall trend: lower scores → lower word counts on average).
Step3: Evaluate Options
- Option 1: Word count tends to decrease as score decreases. Matches the trend (lower scores, lower word counts overall).
- Option 2: Opposite of trend.
- Option 3: Word counts vary, not constant.
- Option 4: There is a trend (decreasing together), so not no relationship.
Answer:
A. Word count tends to decrease as the score decreases.