Question

A graph shows the U S Government and Expenditures from 1980 to 2010. The money spent and money received generally follow the same trend, but around 2008, the amount of money spent increased and money received decreased.

The graph shows the federal budget from 1980 to 2010.

What conclusion can be drawn from this graph?

Federal law requires the budget to be balanced.
Politicians do a good job in balancing the budget.
In most years, the federal budget shows a surplus.
Lines seldom overlap showing a mostly unbalanced budget.

Answer 1

The conclusion that can be drawn from the graph is that in most years, the U.S. federal budget did not show a surplus, and that the trend of government spending and revenue generally followed the same pattern until around 2008, when spending increased and revenue decreased. This suggests that the federal budget was unbalanced for much of the time period shown in the graph.

Therefore, options A, B, and C are not supported by the graph. The graph does not show that federal law requires the budget to be balanced or that politicians did a good job in balancing the budget, nor does it show that there were mostly surpluses in the federal budget.

Option D, which suggests that the graph shows a mostly unbalanced budget, is the most accurate conclusion that can be drawn from the information provided.