OEQuote:
Even though all the percentages listed for state B add up to 0, there is no way of knowing whether they really balance each other out. If the transportation budget was much larger than the “other” category, for example, then the 10% increase in transportation could not be offset by the 10% decrease in other. Thus, choice A is not necessarily true. Similarly, if much more was spent on education than on health in state A, then the overall change need not be – 1%, enough to balance out the increase in police spending. However, all of the areas in state D’s budget decreased or stayed the same from 2000 to 2005, and thus it is certain that the total budget was lower in 2005 than in 2000. Note: if all of state D’s spending was on the police, then the budget would have stayed level; however, in this event the spending on the other departments would not have been listed as reduced.