4 ms·

You need to draw a line around the "1." part

by alexey-salmin 2y ago

x86_64Ubuntu 2y ago
Number OR Letter, and it never specifies which one. It doesn't say first or last, or anything.
- alexey-salmin 2y ago
  "1" is the number of the sentence, not a number in the sentence. As in "this is the sentence number one". I don't claim this test is useful, but as a matter of fact the first question is not hard.
KingMob 2y ago
It's debatable whether "1." is part of the sentence (and thus should be left alone). We wouldn't consider a non-alphanumeric bullet point to be part of a sentence. Regardless of which you chose, if the examiner wished to disqualify you, they could simply say it's the opposite.
- alexey-salmin 2y ago
  No one says it's a part of the sentence. It's a number of the sentence, as in "this is the sentence number one".
  - KingMob 2y ago
    I get you, but to my ears, the phrasing itself implies it's part of the sentence (unless the common phrasing was different back then). Most people would say "The number _preceding_ this sentence". "of this" sounds like it's part of the sentence.
cryptoz 2y ago
That is wrong and you have failed the test. If you include the . you have clearly misunderstood the question. It did not indicate to draw a line around the number or letter and dot. Since you included the dot we will fail you. We are aware the question did not indicate the dot or not and it doesn’t matter. You failed, bye!
- alexey-salmin 2y ago
  I don't argue that it's impossible for the examiner to screw you on the commas — that's always a possibility with an open-ended question. And yet this doesn't make all open-ended questions bad, it just makes then inappropriate for a situation with an adversarial interviewer (which I do agree include the voting process). However I argue that the question by itself is fine: it is well defined and has only one reasonable answer. No one presented any other sensible answer so far.
  - mannykannot 2y ago
    Here we have a subjective determination of objectivity.
    - alexey-salmin 2y ago
      Correct. This is how tests work most of the time in real life (open-ended, subjective) and attempts to fully remove ambiguity are often harmful. My problem with the whole discussion here is that I actually fail to come up with an ambiguous answer to this question that I subjectively find reasonable. Can you positivity contribute by providing an alternative interpretation that you personally would find more plausible? Otherwise complains about subjectively are hollow. Everything is subjective but it only matters in cases people actually disagree.
      - mannykannot 2y ago
        As the first sentence of your reply to me effectively acknowledges that this thread has not objectively identified a unique correct answer, what I (or you) personally find plausible is beside the point. That being said, in the very post you are replying to, cryptoz has already implied an alternative that is no more subjective than yours, and which is also highly appropriate, given the covert purpose of questions such as these. > ...attempts to fully remove ambiguity are often harmful. Really? I'd like to see some real-life examples that are not just further examples of bad question-writing. Regardless, this is beside the point here, where there is a seemingly insurmountably high bar for making the case that removing ambiguity would make the situation worse (to be clear, the problem with tests like this is not just that an examiner might screw you, but that they are intended to be used that way.)

You need to draw a line around the "1." part

x86_64Ubuntu 2y ago

Number OR Letter, and it never specifies which one. It doesn't say first or last, or anything.

alexey-salmin 2y ago
"1" is the number of the sentence, not a number in the sentence. As in "this is the sentence number one". I don't claim this test is useful, but as a matter of fact the first question is not hard.

KingMob 2y ago

It's debatable whether "1." is part of the sentence (and thus should be left alone). We wouldn't consider a non-alphanumeric bullet point to be part of a sentence. Regardless of which you chose, if the examiner wished to disqualify you, they could simply say it's the opposite.

alexey-salmin 2y ago
No one says it's a part of the sentence. It's a number of the sentence, as in "this is the sentence number one".
- KingMob 2y ago
  I get you, but to my ears, the phrasing itself implies it's part of the sentence (unless the common phrasing was different back then). Most people would say "The number _preceding_ this sentence". "of this" sounds like it's part of the sentence.

cryptoz 2y ago

That is wrong and you have failed the test. If you include the . you have clearly misunderstood the question. It did not indicate to draw a line around the number or letter and dot. Since you included the dot we will fail you. We are aware the question did not indicate the dot or not and it doesn’t matter. You failed, bye!

alexey-salmin 2y ago
I don't argue that it's impossible for the examiner to screw you on the commas — that's always a possibility with an open-ended question. And yet this doesn't make all open-ended questions bad, it just makes then inappropriate for a situation with an adversarial interviewer (which I do agree include the voting process). However I argue that the question by itself is fine: it is well defined and has only one reasonable answer. No one presented any other sensible answer so far.
- mannykannot 2y ago
  Here we have a subjective determination of objectivity.
  - alexey-salmin 2y ago
    Correct. This is how tests work most of the time in real life (open-ended, subjective) and attempts to fully remove ambiguity are often harmful. My problem with the whole discussion here is that I actually fail to come up with an ambiguous answer to this question that I subjectively find reasonable. Can you positivity contribute by providing an alternative interpretation that you personally would find more plausible? Otherwise complains about subjectively are hollow. Everything is subjective but it only matters in cases people actually disagree.
    - mannykannot 2y ago
      As the first sentence of your reply to me effectively acknowledges that this thread has not objectively identified a unique correct answer, what I (or you) personally find plausible is beside the point. That being said, in the very post you are replying to, cryptoz has already implied an alternative that is no more subjective than yours, and which is also highly appropriate, given the covert purpose of questions such as these. > ...attempts to fully remove ambiguity are often harmful. Really? I'd like to see some real-life examples that are not just further examples of bad question-writing. Regardless, this is beside the point here, where there is a seemingly insurmountably high bar for making the case that removing ambiguity would make the situation worse (to be clear, the problem with tests like this is not just that an examiner might screw you, but that they are intended to be used that way.)