Chart questions are reading questions with a little arithmetic at the end. Almost every wrong answer comes from skipping the title, the units or the scale. Read those first and the rest is one subtraction or one division.
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Read the title, the units and the scale first
Tickets sold (in hundreds)Thursday’s bar reaches 20, and the title says hundreds: 2,000 tickets.
A chart is a picture of numbers. Before you look at any bar, read the title (what is counted), the units (hundreds? dollars? percent?) and the scale on the axis (how much one gridline is worth). Then read the bar.
Key idea
Answer only from the chart
Questions say “according to the graph.” Use what is shown, not what seems likely. And look at what is asked: one value, a difference, a percent or an average each need a different small calculation.
Find the bar, follow its top across to the scale, and read the number. Then apply the unit in the title. Forgetting “in hundreds” or “in thousands” is the single most common mistake on these questions.
Example
Using the chart above: how many tickets were sold on Thursday?
“Highest” means the biggest value. “Increased the most” means the biggest jump between two neighbours: subtract each pair. On a line graph that is the steepest piece going up, which is often not where the line is highest.
Gym membersHighest in May (52), but the biggest increase is February to March: 46 − 34 = 12.
A two-way table sorts the same data two ways at once. Put one finger on the row and one on the column; the number where they meet is the answer. For totals, add across a row or down a column.
Pick an answer, then read why. No timer, no account.
Question 1 of 5
A bar graph titled “Books sold (in hundreds)” shows June 14, July 22 and August 18. How many books were sold in July?
Show the answer
D. July’s bar reads 22, and the title says hundreds: 22 × 100 = 2,200. 22 forgets the unit and 1,800 is August. They sold 2,200 books.
Question 2 of 5
A store counted visitors for four weeks: 120, 150, 210 and 230. By how many visitors did the count rise in the week with the biggest increase?
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C. The increases are 150 − 120 = 30, 210 − 150 = 60 and 230 − 210 = 20. The biggest is 60, from week 2 to week 3. 230 is the highest count, not the biggest rise. It rose by 60.
Question 3 of 5
A table of club members shows: under 30 — 18 men and 24 women; 30 and over — 26 men and 12 women. How many women are in the club?
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B. Add down the women’s column: 24 + 12 = 36. 42 adds across the under-30 row, and 80 is the whole club. There are 36 women.
Question 4 of 5
In a survey of 80 students, 28 chose basketball as their favorite sport. What percent chose basketball?
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A. Part ÷ whole: 28 ÷ 80 = 0.35 = 35%. 65% is the students who did not choose basketball. The answer is 35%.
Question 5 of 5
A line graph shows a car’s value: $24,000 in 2021, $21,000 in 2022, $19,500 in 2023 and $18,000 in 2024. What was the average drop per year from 2021 to 2024?
Show the answer
B. The total drop is 24,000 − 18,000 = 6,000 over three years (2021 to 2022, to 2023, to 2024), and 6,000 ÷ 3 = 2,000. $1,500 divides by 4, counting the years instead of the gaps. The average drop is $2,000.
In the course, every topic is drawn step by step on a whiteboard while a voice explains it, with timed practice tests and a plan for your test date. The first lessons of every module are free.
