The Center for Responsive Politics publishes data about dollars spent on lobbying efforts by major companies, industries and other entities seeking to influence Congressional legislation and the political process. The table below lists the industries that spent the most money on lobbying activities in 2011 and 2013:
Lobbying Industry
2011 Spending
2013 Spending
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products
$241,168,770
$226,114,456
Insurance
$158,404,505
$153,235,759
Oil & Gas
$150,771,677
$144,878,531
Computers/Internet
$126,827,796
$141,226,592
Electric Utilities
$145,610,040
$129,882,034
TV/Movies/Music
$123,061,396
$118,336,958
Business Associations
$106,490,640
$108,518,903
Securities & Investment
$104,689,226
$98,342,423
Misc. Manufacturing & Distributing
$118,520,754
$96,970,399
Hospitals/Nursing Homes
$98,480,316
$91,879,521
Health Professionals
$82,641,177
$85,003,284

According to this data, which one of the following statements is true?
A)Most of the top industries spent less on lobbying activities in 2013 compared to 2011.
B)Most of the top industries spent more on lobbying activities in 2013 compared to 2011.
C)The Computers/Internet and the Insurance industries both increased spending on lobbying activities from 2011 to 2013.
D)Hospitals and nursing homes spent more on lobbying activities in 2013 than in 2011.
E)Health professionals spent more on lobbying activities in 2011 than 2013.

Question

​The Center for Responsive Politics publishes data about dollars spent on lobbying efforts by major companies, industries and other entities seeking to influence Congressional legislation and the political process. The table below lists the industries that spent the most money on lobbying activities in 2011 and 2013: ​
Lobbying Industry
2011 Spending
2013 Spending
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products
$241,168,770
$226,114,456
Insurance
$158,404,505
$153,235,759
Oil & Gas
$150,771,677
$144,878,531
Computers/Internet
$126,827,796
$141,226,592
Electric Utilities
$145,610,040
$129,882,034
TV/Movies/Music
$123,061,396
$118,336,958
Business Associations
$106,490,640
$108,518,903
Securities & Investment
$104,689,226
$98,342,423
Misc. Manufacturing & Distributing
$118,520,754
$96,970,399
Hospitals/Nursing Homes
$98,480,316
$91,879,521
Health Professionals
$82,641,177
$85,003,284
​
According to this data, which one of the following statements is true?
A)Most of the top industries spent less on lobbying activities in 2013 compared to 2011.
B)Most of the top industries spent more on lobbying activities in 2013 compared to 2011.
C)The Computers/Internet and the Insurance industries both increased spending on lobbying activities from 2011 to 2013.
D)Hospitals and nursing homes spent more on lobbying activities in 2013 than in 2011.
E)Health professionals spent more on lobbying activities in 2011 than 2013.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The data shows that most of the top industries spent less on lobbying activities in 2013 (the second column) compared to 2011 (the first column). Only a few industries, such as Computers/Internet and Health Professionals, increased their spending. Therefore, option A is correct. Option B is incorrect because it is the opposite of what the data shows. Option C is partially correct because the Insurance industry increased spending, but the Computers/Internet industry spent more overall, not just an increase in spending. Option D is incorrect because the data shows that Hospitals/Nursing Homes spent less in 2013. Lastly, option E is incorrect because it is the opposite of what the data shows.

​The Center for Responsive Politics Publishes Data About Dollars Spent

The Center for Responsive Politics Publishes Data About Dollars Spent