The number of _____ ____-owned businesses rose by __% last year.

• A. Asian, men, 5
• B. Hispanic, women, 11
• C. Black, women, 13
• D. Black, men, 15

Answer: (C)

This item tests how to fill in a phrase that describes ownership by a specific demographic group. The structure before -owned should specify a race/ethnicity and a gender, so the descriptor reads naturally as a single category: Black women-owned. That makes the full sentence read smoothly as: The number of Black women-owned businesses rose by 13% last year. This is a common way reports talk about business ownership by demographic groups, and the growth figure of 13% fits that kind of statistic.

The other pairings produce less natural or less commonly used phrases in this exact construction, which is why the Black women-owned combination is the best fit.