An auto manufacturer claims that the autos it sells have an average fuel efficiency of 35 mpg. A consumer group believes that the true figure is lower. The consumer group obtains 5 of the company's autos and determines an average of 32 mpg. Is this significant? The company runs a simulation by randomly picking 5 cars 160 times from a fleet of cars of known 35 mpg efficiency and calculating the resulting averages to show that 32 was possible. The company makes the following dotplot.
31 32 33 34 35 36 37
Fuel Economy (mpg)
Does the company's argument seem reasonable given this dotplot?
(A) Yes, because the dotplot shows that anything is possible in the real world.
(B) Yes, because the dotplot shows that every average was not 35.
(C) Yes, because the dotplot shows that 32 mpg is a possible average of 5 cars from a fleet of cars of known 35 mpg efficiency.
(D) No, because the dotplot shows that anything is possible in the real world.
(E) No, because the possibility of picking 5 cars with an average of 32 mpg or lower from a fleet of cars of known 35 mpg efficiency is very small, only 4 out of 160, or 0.025.