Question

一道gre OG上的逻辑题，求助

In the United States between 1850 and 1880, the number of farmers continued to increase, but at a rate lower than that of the general population 。
Which of the following statements directly contradicts the information presented above?
A.The number of farmers in the general population increased slightly in the 30 years between 1850 and 1880.
B.The rate of growth of the United States labor force and the rate of growth of the general population rose simultaneously in the 30 years between 1850 and 1880. C.The proportion of farmers in the United States labor force remained constant in the 30 years between 1850 and 1880.
D.The proportion of farmers in the United States labor force decreased from 64 percent in 1850 to 49 percent in 1880.
E.The proportion of farmers in the general population increased from 68 percent in 1850 to 72 percent in 1880.
此题为甚选E啊？不是说directly contradict么？那么选项D岂不是更相反？

Answer 1

题干的意思是农民的数量增加了，但增加速度没有总人口的增加速度快，由此可以推出农民的人口比例在总人口中减少了。D表达的正好是这个意思，而E则相反，所以E是contradict的

Answer 2

D说的是 在labor force里面的比重，不是general population，要注意这些小陷阱啊

追问

那如果将D中的labor force 改成general population，是不是会比选项E更具有反驳性呢？

追答

不知道