Option C : 

The author states that “demographic inversion is not a proxy for population growth” (lines 32-33). In other words, demographic inversion is distinct from population growth. The author also notes that demographic inversion is evident in many American cities, as it “can occur in cities that are growing, those whose numbers are flat, and even in those undergoing a modest decline in size” (lines 33-35).

Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because they do not summarize the first paragraph.

Option D : 

The author notes that one of “the most powerful demographic events of the past decade [was] the movement of African Americans out of central cities” (lines 14-17).

Choices A, B, and C are incorrect because the author does not state that the unemployed, immigrants, or young professionals moved away from central-city areas in large numbers in the early 2000s.

Option A : 

The author states that democratic inversion “can occur in cities that are growing, those whose numbers are flat, and even in those undergoing a modest decline in size” (lines 33-35). In this context, cities whose “numbers,” or population size, are “flat” have static, or unchanging, populations.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because in this context, “flat” does not mean deflated, featureless, or obscure.

Option B : 

The author states that many major American cities are currently experiencing economic hardship, or “enormous fiscal problems,” because of “public pension obligations they incurred in the more prosperous years of the past two decades” (lines 36-39). The author then provides the example of Chicago, a city that can no longer afford to pay the “public services to which most of [its] citizens have grown to feel entitled” (lines 41-43). The author is arguing that many major American cities face economic hardship due to past promises (such as public services) they made to their constituents.

Choices A, C, and D are incorrect because the passage does not discuss expected tax increases, an inner-city tax base, or manufacturing production as they relate to the financial status of many major American cities.

Option A : 

In lines 36-39, the author provides evidence that many major American cities are currently experiencing economic hardship due to promises made in past years: “America’s major cities face enormous fiscal problems, many of them the result of the public pension obligations they incurred in the more prosperous years of the past two decades.” America’s major cities made past promises, such as “public pension obligations,” to their citizens, which caused their current financial situation.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because they do not provide evidence that many major American cities are currently experiencing economic hardship due to promises made in past years.

Option C : 

The author explains how sociologist Ernest W. Burgess determined that urban areas have a traditional four-zone structure (lines 54-63). He then states that Burgess was “right about the urban America of 1974” (line 65) as it also followed the traditional four-zone structure: “Virtually every city in the country had a downtown, where the just beyond; it had districts of working-class residences just beyond that, and it had residential suburbs for the wealthy and the upper-middle-class at the far end of the continuum” (lines 66-71).

Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because the passage does not imply that American cities in 1974 were witnessing the flight of minority populations to the suburbs, had begun to lose their manufacturing sectors, or were already experiencing demographic inversion.

Option C : 

In lines 66-71, the author provides evidence that American cities in 1974 had a traditional four-zone structure: “Virtually every city in the country had a downtown, where the commercial life of the metropolis was conducted; it had a factory district just beyond; it had districts of working-class residences just beyond that, and it had residential suburbs for the wealthy and the upper-middle-class at the far end of the continuum.”

Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because they do not provide evidence that American urban cities in 1974 had a traditional four-zone structure. Choice A references a seminal paper on the layout of American cities, choice B identifies Burgess’s original theory, and choice D focuses on movement to the suburbs.

Option A : 

In lines 66-68, the author notes that American cities in 1974 each had a “downtown, where the commercial life of the metropolis was conducted.” In this context, the author is stating that these cities “conducted,” or carried out, business, the “commercial life,” in downtown areas.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because in this context, “conducted” does not mean supervised, regulated, or inhibited.

Option B : 

Chart 1 shows the percentage of the US population in 2010 that lived in non-metro, small metro, and large metro areas. While the author cites census numbers, he notes that “when it comes to measuring demographic inversion, raw census numbers are an ineffective blunt instrument” (lines 11-13). Census data refer to the number of people living in a specific area and the demographic information that’s been collected on them. The author would most likely consider the information in chart 1 to be possibly accurate but an “ineffective blunt instrument” that’s not truly informative.

Choices A and C are incorrect because the author would not consider census data to be excellent or compelling. Choice D is incorrect because while the author does not believe the census completely explains demographic inversion, he would be unlikely to disagree with the census data.

Option A : 

Chart 2 shows that the growth of all metropolitan areas in the 1990s was higher than the growth in all metropolitan areas in the 2000s: large metro areas experienced a growth of 14.3% in the 1990s versus growth of 10.9% in the 2000s, small metro areas experienced a growth of 13.1% in the 1990s versus growth of 10.3% in the 2000s, and non-metro areas experienced a growth of 9.0% in the 1990s versus growth of 4.5% in the 2000s.

Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because they do not accurately characterize the US growth rate by metro size from 2000-2010 as illustrated in chart 2.