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'Unsolvable' exam question leaves Chinese students flummoxed
- ouid 9y ago40 sheep isn't 7700 kg, I don't think. that's 400 lb per sheep.
- paulcole 9y ago>"The total weight of 26 sheep and 10 goat is 7,700kg, based on the average weight of each animal," said one Weibo commenter. Those are some MASSIVE sheep. I like that the internet know it all was just as wrong as everyone else. Also that the writer of the article didn't even bother to fact check it.
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- preordained 9y agoThat's like a question that might appear as a gag in a SNL final exams skit. I'm for the odd unconventional question that might not follow a premise that was well-established in class per se (used deliberately, and sparingly)...but not a question which can only result in confusion and frustration.
- sharemywin 9y agoExcept that's life. Here's my answer to that question: Risky Business(1983): Miles: Sometimes you gotta say "What the F*ck", make your move.
- wizardforhire 9y agoThis is my favorite unsolvable exam question! (Single page pdf) http://nuclear.ucdavis.edu/~tgutierr/files/sml2.pdf http://nuclear.ucdavis.edu/~tgutierr/files/sml2.pdf
- tzs 9y agoThat's not unsolvable: https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/the-deconstructed-standard-model-equation https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/the-deconstructed-s... See also: https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-what-the-standard-model-of-physics-actually-looks-like https://www.sciencealert.com/this-is-what-the-standard-model...
- RubenSandwich 9y agoIt sounds like the old programming interview questions: "Why are sewer covers round?", etc. They sound like they promote critical thinking, but really they just confuse the applicants. If you want to know how someone thinks, ask them to solve a problem step by step.
- jasikpark 9y agoi only know from learning about it, but round manhole covers prevent them from falling through the hole by consisting of a curve of constant width. Another example is the Reuleaux Triangle which is a viable shape for manhole covers. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuleaux_triangle
- jasikpark 9y agonot exactly a great logic question
- mikeash 9y agoThe problem I have with this question is that it’s based on false pretenses. Plenty of manhole covers are not round.
- JoeAltmaier 9y agoCool! I didn't know this was a thing, but I came up with the same solution independently when asked this question. It also makes a wheel that has a constant tangent from the ground (not a constant axel point) as it turns.
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- krapp 9y agoSuch questions are usually shibboleths for cultural and social affinity, rather than objective attempts to test critical thinking and logic.
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- ensignavenger 9y agoGrowing up in the US, we used to have questions like this on math exams. The correct answer is something to the effect of "Not enough information to solve this problem". Of course we had practice questions where that was the case before the exam, so it wasn't a surprise or anything... but it was standard practice.
- Harvey-Specter 9y agoQuestions like "A ball is fired from a cannon at a 45 degree angle, how far from it's initial position does it land?" are also fairly common in Canada. I don't recall every being asked something this silly though. There's no formula to calculate the age of a ship captain based on his cargo. There's no 'missing piece' here.
- vixen99 9y agoWithout the "it's", I trust.
- JoeAltmaier 9y agoRead the article - there are several clues, and bounds can be calculated.
- Harvey-Specter 9y agoI read the article. The question is stated to be > "If a ship had 26 sheep and 10 goats onboard, how old is the ship's captain?" What 'clue' did I miss? The only other information is some speculation from a Weibo commenter who thinks that 26 sheep + 10 goats = 7700kgs. I supposed you could argue that these 5th grade students should know the minimum age required to have a commercial boat licence, but I couldn't tell you that answer for my country (and we don't know that this is a commercial ship, could just be someone taking his livestock for a jaunt around the lake).
- JoeAltmaier 9y agoScroll past the ads. There's lots more.
- jkestner 9y agoIt's a Kobayashi Maru. They're supposed to demonstrate their hacking skills and change the exam score.
- IntronExon 9y agoIt’s worth pointing out that the intent of the Kobayashi Maru is to present the candidate with the terror, trauma, and experience of inevitable doom. Kirk cheated brilliantly, but that was not the point.
- lancebeet 9y ago>"The total weight of 26 sheep and 10 goat is 7,700kg, based on the average weight of each animal," said one Weibo commenter. Well that's just not true.
- Anderkent 9y agoMaybe they meant pounds? Large sheep can weigh around 250lb so it gets closer to the 7700 number
- kk_cz 9y agoThis sounds like a messed up variant of an actual solvable old riddle that goes something like: "Imagine that that you are the captain of a ship, there are 26 sheep and 10 goat on board... " ... go on for about 2 minutes talking about how the ship stops in different ports and how number of respective animals change... Add another animals as well, make the listener assume that they need to keep the count in their head... "Now in the final destination all of the animal get off the ship. How old is the ship's captain?"
- BrandoElFollito 9y ago(Ok, I will be that guy.) So what is the solution?
- plorkyeran 9y agoYour age.
- BrandoElFollito 9y agoAh. This is a nice one, I will try on my children - hopefully they will be brighter than their dad.
- BrandoElFollito 9y agoThe younger was :)
- fellellor 9y agoBack in school professors used to add goofy questions like this, which could only be answered if you actually attended the classes. It was a way to account for diligence, according to the professor anyway.
- floren 9y agoIt's a classic nonsense word problem, first appearing in 1841: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_captain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_captain It's also been used to examine how students react to nonsensical word problems, and this is to some extent backed up by the school's statement. However, given the reputation of Chinese schools, it's entirely possible the teacher preparing the test simply threw it in because it looked like a word problem and the school is just saving face.
- JackFr 9y ago> However, given the reputation of Chinese schools, it's entirely possible the teacher preparing the test simply threw it in because it looked like a word problem Action: Chinese school tries to break stereotype. Result: stereotype reinforced, because people would rather believe that than the explicit explanation.
- mbfg 9y agoBob is looking at Mary, but Mary is looking at Ed. Bob is married but Ed is not. Is a married person looking at an unmarried person? a) Yes b) No c) Not enough information to say