Exercises: Explain Conditional Probability and Independence in Everyday Language
Work through each section in order. This standard is about EXPLAINING in plain words, so several problems ask you to write complete sentences. Remember: "A given B" and "B given A" are different questions with different reference groups; "independent" means knowing one tells you nothing about the other (it is about information, not whether the events can happen together).
Warm-Up: Conditional and Independence Language
These problems review the plain-language meaning of conditioning and independence.
A coach says, "Most professional basketball players are tall." Rewrite the claim with the condition REVERSED by filling each blank. "Most ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ people are ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ ̲ players." (First blank: tall or short. Second blank: a profession.)