Final answer:
The assertions about books being an inferior good and tea being a necessity are false, and the claim that books are a luxury good while tea is an inferior good is also false. The correct classifications cannot be definitively made based on the provided data.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question revolves around the concepts of normal goods, inferior goods, and luxuries in relation to income and consumption patterns.
a. Books are an inferior good: False. This statement is false because when Chloe's income decreased, she bought fewer books, suggesting that books are a normal good for Chloe, as the consumption of a normal good falls with a decrease in income.
b. Tea is a necessity: False. This cannot be determined with the given information. While Chloe did buy more tea when her income fell, which could imply that tea is a necessity, the information is not conclusive because a necessity is typically defined by a less-than-proportional increase in consumption with the increase in income or vice versa.
c. Books are a luxury good, and tea is an inferior good: False. This statement is false because, from what is presented, books appear to be a normal good rather than a luxury good, as consumption decreased with loss of income. In addition, there's no clear evidence that tea is an inferior good since purchasing more tea after the income drop could be a result of its low cost relative to books and Chloe's specific preferences.