The nearly forty tribes located in Oklahoma, including the Chickasaw Nation and the Seminole Nation, operate numerous businesses and generate billions of dollars in revenue. A student in an economics class is researching the tribes' collective activity as a single industry. The student wants to compare that industry's contribution to Oklahoma's overall economy in 2017 with the contributions made by three other industries in the state. Looking at the table, the student finds that tribal economic activity totaled over $7.3 billion, ranking it above _____.
| Industry | Approximate Total Contribution by Industry | Number of People Employed by Industry | Average Contribution per Employee by Industry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation / Food Services | $5,242,100,000 | 150,373 | $34,861 |
| Tribal Economic Activity | $7,312,400,000 | 51,674 | $141,510 |
| Health Care | $13,727,300,000 | 193,514 | $70,937 |
| Retail | $10,738,800,000 | 179,208 | $59,924 |
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the comparison?
Explanation
Context: A student comparing Oklahoma industries in 2017 finds that the tribes' collective activity contributed just over $7.3 billion. The blank must place that figure against the three other industries in the table.
Answer: B) accommodation/food services but below both health care and retail.
Why? The table gives tribal economic activity 5,242,100,000, retail 13,727,300,000. Tribal activity therefore outranks only accommodation/food services and sits below the other two. The comparison is about total contribution, so the employment and per-employee columns are beside the point.
Traps:
- A) Above retail as well → retail's 7.31 billion.
- C) Above all three → both health care and retail contribute more.
- D) "Nearly equal" to health care and retail → each of them exceeds tribal activity by billions of dollars.