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Is there a word trick here I'm missing? I can only interpret it in the face-value sense of underlining the last word, "line".
by happytoexplain 2y ago
Is there a word trick here I'm missing? I can only interpret it in the face-value sense of underlining the last word, "line".
- tptacek 2y agoSorry, no votes for you; it was "word". No, wait, you needed to underline every occurrence of the word "line". Again, no idea if this test is real, just, that's the gimmick.
- happytoexplain 2y agoI get that the idea is that some questions create ambiguity using wordplay or subjectivity, but do you really think this is one of them? Your examples seem like a stretch even in the context of being unfair on purpose.
- reverius42 2y agoYes, because it is well known that these tests were in fact designed to be unfair on purpose (to a specific racial group). So it's not a stretch to think that these "unfair on purpose" examples are realistic.
- cedilla 2y agoThere are three reasonable interpretations I see. The instruction is clearly to draw a line under something. That something may be whatever is followed by "under", so you underline "the last word in this line". Or "in this line" just narrows it down, so only "the last word" is to be underlined. Or the whole "last word in this line" is meant as an instruction to be interpreted, so it's "line". In that case, be careful not to underline the period, as sentence marks clearly aren't part of a word. Or maybe they are. Oh wait, it could also refer to "the last 'word' in this line", so you would need to underline "word".
- f1refly 2y agoA that point you might as well flip off whoever it is you're grading, and I get that this is the point of the test, but it's hardly the questions fault. The question has one clear answer.
- Izkata 2y ago> Sorry, no votes for you; it was "word". If it was this, there would be quotes around "word". > No, wait, you needed to underline every occurrence of the word "line". If it was this, it wouldn't say "last". This particular one is not ambiguous.
- GVIrish 2y agoThat's not the point. The test giver has free discretion to say either answer is correct or incorrect. You could argue that if the intent was to underline "word" that it would have quotes around it, but it doesn't matter because the test is not supposed to be fair or consistent. Things like this were at the heart of what Jim Crow was in America. Selective and capricious enforcement of the law to disenfranchise and disadvantage black people at best, enable unaccountable violence against them at the worst.
- Izkata 2y agoThat's a different argument than what started this thread. Cheating administrators have nothing to do with whether that question is ambiguous or not.
- ImPostingOnHN 2y agoIt's not cheating administrators, it's ambiguous questions with multiple possible answers. As the judge of this test, I interpret your answer as incorrect. I expected the phrase, "the last word in this line" to be underlined. Test failed, no cheating required. (Note that had you underlined the phrase, "the last word in this line", I would have still judged it incorrect, claiming that "word" or "line" should be underlined. Again, this requires no cheating.)
- Izkata 2y agoIf it was this, there would be quotes around those 6 words, just like in your comment. The quotes are needed to change this sentence from its clear meaning to these other ones.