Question

Selection 1: “It is estimated that five billion people used social media in 2023. That’s five billion people who could have been volunteering, spending time with loved ones, or helping their neighbors instead of staring at a screen.” (paragraph 1)
Selection 2: “In 2023, about five billion people worldwide were using social media of some kind. This shows the power and influence that the medium has. It also demonstrates the connections that people have made on social media.” (paragraph 2)

Both texts cite the same statistic about the number of social media users. How do the texts differ in their interpretation of the statistic?
A. Selection 1 interprets the statistic as reliable; Selection 2 interprets the statistic as unreliable.
B. Selection 1 interprets the statistic as an overestimation; Selection 2 interprets the statistic as an underestimation.
C. Selection 1 interprets the statistic as a sign of social media’s negative impact; Selection 2 interprets it as a sign of social media’s positive impact.
D. Selection 1 interprets the statistic as a sign of social media’s lack of importance; Selection 2 interprets it as a sign of social media’s importance.

Answer 1

C. Selection 1 frames the statistic as evidence of social media’s negative impact (time wasted), while Selection 2 presents it as evidence of social media’s positive impact (power, connections).