In the year 2000, 50% of people paid their bills by mail, and bills accounted for 25% of the overall mail volume. By 2010, 75% of people were using the Internet to pay all of their bills. However, bills remained 25% of mail volume overall.
Which of the following, if true, would help resolve the apparent paradox in the passage above EXCEPT?
A)The overall amount of mail declined between 2000 and 2010.
B)In 2005, the U.S. Postal Service changed the way it counted pieces of mail and stopped counting packages as part of the mail.
C)In the 2000s, reliance upon mail alternatives, such as package delivery services, increased.
D)Many businesses stopped mailing coupons and fliers through the mail, and instead put more of their advertising budget into online ads.
E)The US population increased between 2000 and 2010.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

All of the above answers might explain the paradox except E, an increase in the US population. Answers A, B, C, and D discuss how other types of mail either decreased or were no longer counted, explaining how the amount of bills could decline yet remain the same percentage of the total mail.

In the Year 2000, 50% of People Paid Their Bills