Question

The chart shows U.S. government spending and the income it brought in

through taxes each year. In which year or years did the U.S. government have
a surplus?
A. both 2010 and 2015
B. both 2000 and 2020
C. only 2005
D. only 2015

Answer 1

B. Both 2000 and 2020

Step-by-step explanation:

While this answer is correct this is not the only correct answer, anytime that the blue line (Income from taxes) is above the red line (Government Spending), then that means that the U.S. government has a surplus.

So technically any answer except 2015 is correct.

Watch out that it doesn't say a surplus year as only, as that would also be incorrect because there are many others years in which the U.S. government has a surplus based on this chart. So that would make C. only 2005 incorrect because while that year the U.S. government did have a surplus it was not the only year that the U.S. government had a surplus.

So that makes the only correct answer that's available to us B. both 2000 and 2020.