A census is not primarily a head count. The number itself matters less than what is attached to it: the allocation of seats in a legislature, the distribution of funding for roads and schools, the boundaries of electoral districts. All of these are derived from the count, which is why an undercount in one area is not merely a statistical inaccuracy but a transfer of resources and representation away from the people who were missed. Those people are, reliably, the ones already hardest to reach, which means the error does not scatter randomly. It falls in the same places each time.
Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
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Correct answer to question 57 (Paragraph Comprehension): Census errors shift resources away from the same groups repeatedly
Method
The passage moves from what depends on the count to who gets missed, closing on the point that the error is not random. The fourth choice picks up one example and treats it as the whole.
Updated: November 2026
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