A state khadi board proposes to give its annual prize for the best-run production centre to whichever of its 96 centres spins the most yarn in the year, on the ground that among its centres the better run generally spin more. An answer to which of the following questions would be of most use in judging the proposal?

The board wants to reward good running and proposes to reward high spinning, and the two are joined only by a rule that holds generally — which permits the single centre at the very top to be an exception, spinning most because it is the largest or the best supplied rather than the best run. Since the prize goes to one centre and not to the general run of them, the useful question is whether the leader on yarn is also the leader when running is examined directly. What the prize carries and how long it has been given describe the award; how many centres spun more this year describes the year, and none of the three tells the board whether its chosen measure will pick out the centre it means to honour.