The accompanying table lists the Gross Domestic Product (GNP) figures for China (in billions of yuan) for the period from 1996 to 2000 $$\begin{array} { c l l l l l }
\text { Year } & 1996 & 1997 & 1998 & 1999 & 2000 \
\text { GNP } & 6,788 & 7,446 & 7,835 & 8,191 & 8,940
\end{array}$$
Use the best fit straight line to extrapolate the GNP to the nearest yuan in 1990?
A) 3,801 billion yuan
B) 3,876 billion yuan
C) 3,942 billion yuan
D) 3,989 billion yuan

Question

The accompanying table lists the Gross Domestic Product (GNP) figures for China (in billions of yuan) for the period from 1996 to 2000 $$\begin{array} { c l l l l l } 
\text { Year } & 1996 & 1997 & 1998 & 1999 & 2000 \
\text { GNP } & 6,788 & 7,446 & 7,835 & 8,191 & 8,940
\end{array}$$
 Use the best fit straight line to extrapolate the GNP to the nearest yuan in 1990?
A) 3,801 billion yuan
B) 3,876 billion yuan
C) 3,942 billion yuan
D) 3,989 billion yuan

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To extrapolate the GNP to 1990 using a best fit straight line, we first calculate the annual increase in GNP from the given data. The increases are: 658 (from 1996 to 1997), 389 (from 1997 to 1998), 356 (from 1998 to 1999), and 749 (from 1999 to 2000). The average increase per year is (658 + 389 + 356 + 749) / 4 = 538 billion yuan. Since 1990 is 6 years before 1996, we subtract 6 times the average increase from the 1996 GNP: 6,788 - (6 * 538) = 3,801 billion yuan.