What is the mean number of people who became legal residents of the United States during this five-year period?
Correct answer: A
To find the mean, you divide the total by the number of years. First add the five yearly totals: 1,063,732 + 1,031,631 + 1,130,818 + 1,183,505 + 1,189,430. Adding step by step gives 1,063,732 + 1,031,631 = 2,095,363. Then 2,095,363 + 1,130,818 = 3,226,181. Then 3,226,181 + 1,183,505 = 4,409,686. Finally 4,409,686 + 1,189,430 = 5,599,116. Now divide the total by 5: 5,599,116 ÷ 5 = 1,119,823.2. The answer choices are whole numbers, so the mean rounds to 1,119,823. That matches choice A. Notice that choice C is the sum, not the mean—students who forget to divide land there. The GED Social Studies test often pairs a data table with a statistics question like this, so read the question word "mean" carefully before you compute. additional GED practice questions offer more table-and-mean items to practice.
A) 1,119,823
Add the five yearly totals to get 5,599,116, then divide by 5. The result is 1,119,823.2, which rounds to 1,119,823. The steps are: sum all values, count the values (5 years), divide, and round to the nearest whole person. This choice matches the mean exactly.
B) 223,504
It looks like someone divided the total by 25 instead of 5, or divided one year's value by roughly 5. Either way, the operation is off. The mean must use the total of all five years divided by 5. The number 223,504 is far too small for an average of yearly totals near one million.
C) 5,599,113
It is the sum of the five years, not the mean. The value is close to the true total (5,599,116), with a small rounding or addition slip. Students who add correctly but forget the final division step pick this choice. Always check whether the question asks for a total or an average.
D) 1,107,126
It is close to the correct mean, which makes it a tempting distractor. It may come from dividing the total by 5 but using a misread or misadded yearly figure, or from dropping one year's data. The correct total is 5,599,116, and 5,599,116 ÷ 5 = 1,119,823.2, not 1,107,126.
Conclusion
This question asks for the mean number of people who became legal residents over five years. You add the five yearly totals to get 5,599,116, then divide by 5 to get about 1,119,823, so the answer is A. For similar items, confirm whether the question wants a total, a mean, or a difference. Watch for answer choices that show the sum, and double-check your addition before dividing. Reading tables and computing averages are key Social Studies skills for understanding immigration and population data.
Why the others are wrong
Many students rush through the calculation and forget to divide after adding the yearly totals. They see a large sum and assume it's the answer, picking the choice that matches their total. This happens because they don't carefully read the word 'mean' or confuse it with 'total.' Another common error is misreading the table and using the wrong numbers, leading to a plausible but incorrect average. Some students also divide by the wrong number, such as the number of months instead of years, which throws off the result. These mistakes stem from not double-checking the question's requirement and not verifying the arithmetic step by step.
Concept tested
Calculating the mean from a data table involves summing all values and dividing by the number of entries. This measures the central tendency of immigration data over a five-year period.
GED Tip
On test day, first identify whether the question asks for a total, mean, or difference. For mean, add all values, count them, then divide. Double-check by estimating: the average should be near the middle of the yearly numbers.
