Question

The question: In the 1751-1760 decade, the American colonies imported _____ more than they exported. (imported: 1704 exported: 808)

my choices are 35.7% or 32.2%

Answer 1

The deficit shown is the excess of imports over exports. For that decade, it is £896, which is 1.109 times the level of exports (£808).

Imports were 110.9% more than exports for that period.

_____

Whenever you talk in terms of percentages, you need to be very clear about what the base or reference is. Generally, when you say B is some percentage more than A, you're taking A to be the reference or base. The excess is computed as (B/A -1)×100%, or ((B-A)/A)×100%.