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BoneKracker
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 Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:30 am Post subject: Questions from New York State High School English Exam |
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This is an actual excerpt from a standardized test given this year to 8th Graders (13-14 year olds) by the New York State Education Department. The subject of this portion of the test is English Comprehension. This is a sad testament to the level to which our educational standards have fallen.
However, do you have the balls to offer your answers?
| Quote: | Directions: Read this story. Then answer questions 6 through 11.
The Hare and the Pineapple
by Daniel Pinkwater
In olden times, the animals of the forest could speak English just like you and me. One day a pineapple challenged a hare to a race.
(I forgot to mention, fruits and vegetables were able to speak too.)
A hare is like a rabbit, only skinnier and faster. This particular hare was known to be the fastest animal in the forest.
"You, a pineapple, have the nerve to challenge me, a hare, to a race?" the hare asked the pineapple. "This must be some sort of joke."
"No," said the pineapple. "I want to race you. Twenty-six miles, and may the best animal win."
"You aren't even an animal!" the hare said. "You're a tropical fruit!"
"Well, you know what I mean," the pineapple said.
The animals of the forest thought it was very strange that a tropical fruit should want to race a very fast animal.
"The pineapple has some trick up its sleeve," a moose said.
"Pineapples don't have sleeves," an owl said.
"Well, you know what I mean," the moose said. "If a pineapple challenges a hare to a race, it must be that the pineapple knows some secret trick that will allow it to win."
"The pineapple probably expects us to root for the hare and then look like fools when it loses," said a crow. "Then the pineapple will win the race because the hare is over-confident and takes a nap, or gets lost, or something."
The animals agreed that this made sense. There was no reason a pineapple should challenge a hare unless it had a clever plan of some sort. So the animals, wanting to back a winner, all cheered for the pineapple.
When the race began, the hare sprinted forward and was out of sight in less than a minute. The pineapple just sat, never moving an inch.
The animals crowded around, watching to see how the pineapple was going to cleverly beat the hare. Two hours later, when the hare crossed the finish line, the pineapple was still still, and hadn't move an inch.
The animals ate the pineapple.
MORAL: Pineapples don't have sleeves.
6. Beginning with paragraph 4, in what order are the events of the story told?
a. Switching back and forth between places
b. In the order in which events happen
c. Switching back and forth between the past and the present
d. In the order in which the hare tells the events to another animal
7. The animals ate the pineapple most likely because they were
a. hungry
b. excited
c. annoyed
d. amused
8. Which animal spoke the wisest words?
a. The hare
b. The moose
c. The crow
d. The owl
9. Before the race, how did the animals feel toward the pineapple?
a. Suspicious
b. Kindly
c. Sympathetic
d. Envious
10. What would have happened if the animals had decided to cheer for the hare?
a. The pineapple would have won the race.
b. They would have been mad at the hare for winning.
c. The hare would have just sat there and not moved.
d. They would have been happy to have cheered for a winner.
11. When the moose said that the pineapple has some trick up its sleeve, he means that the pineapple
a. is wearing a disguise
b. wants to show the animals a trick
c. has a plan to fool the animals
d. is going to pull something out of its sleeve
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:44 am Post subject: |
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 What? I think it's a pretty good standard of an english test. In my school they used to give us some heavy prose written by some famous author and expected to make sense out of it.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:55 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | What? I think it's a pretty good standard of an english test. In my school they used to give us some heavy prose written by some famous author and expected to make sense out of it. |
So you could easily get all these right then? So what are your answers?
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:59 am Post subject: |
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brb
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richk449
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:02 am Post subject: |
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Awesome. Students should be capable of interpreting misleading and confusing information if they want to be ready for the real world. Plus, they better get used to authority figures speaking nonsense, and expecting them to take it seriously.
6. Beginning with paragraph 4, in what order are the events of the story told?
This one is strange, because the first option "a. Switching back and forth between places" isn't really an answer to the question. I guess you are supposed to figure that out.
7. The animals ate the pineapple most likely because they were
I would go with annoyed, but I don't see why hungry isn't also a possibility. Considering the tone of the story, amused would also be a valid answer.
10. What would have happened if the animals had decided to cheer for the hare?
This is the best question. The story is nonsensical, but in order to answer this question, you have to apply logic. Kinda like garbage in, garbage out. |
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:36 am Post subject: |
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| richk449 wrote: | Awesome. Students should be capable of interpreting misleading and confusing information if they want to be ready for the real world. Plus, they better get used to authority figures speaking nonsense, and expecting them to take it seriously.
6. Beginning with paragraph 4, in what order are the events of the story told?
This one is strange, because the first option "a. Switching back and forth between places" isn't really an answer to the question. I guess you are supposed to figure that out.
7. The animals ate the pineapple most likely because they were
I would go with annoyed, but I don't see why hungry isn't also a possibility. Considering the tone of the story, amused would also be a valid answer.
10. What would have happened if the animals had decided to cheer for the hare?
This is the best question. The story is nonsensical, but in order to answer this question, you have to apply logic. Kinda like garbage in, garbage out. |
You fail. You only answered one out of six questions. 
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:36 am Post subject: |
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I'm disappointed that you're so insecure you feel compelled to look up the answers.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:48 am Post subject: |
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Yeah? Where's yours?
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:51 am Post subject: |
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6. b. In the order in which events happen
7. c. annoyed
8.c. The crow
9. a. Suspicious
10. d. They would have been happy to have cheered for a winner.
11. c. has a plan to fool the animals
Happy?
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:55 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | 6. b. In the order in which events happen
7. c. annoyed
8.c. The crow
9. a. Suspicious
10. d. They would have been happy to have cheered for a winner.
11. c. has a plan to fool the animals
Happy? |
You got a B. 5 out 6 correct.
That's a lot better than richk449, though, who only got one right (and gets an E, for a half-assed attempt). He didn't answer, because he could tell he was only going to get about half of them right. He's chicken. He's a fraidy cat.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:57 am Post subject: |
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Which one's incorrect?
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:59 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | Which one's incorrect? |
I'll tell you after. Don't want to bias people's answers.
If it makes you feel better, you got the same one wrong that I did.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:59 am Post subject: |
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I don't think you know.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:02 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | I don't think you know. |
You are an amateur at manipulating people. You'll never get a job as an interrogator. 
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:04 am Post subject: |
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How do you know one of the answers is wrong? You got at cheat-sheet?
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:19 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | And he had a quick answer to the question of who is the wisest: “Pearson for getting paid $32 million for recycling this crap.” |
Sorry, notageek. He can't tell you the answers: | Quote: | | State officials wouldn’t divulge the answer and said they couldn’t speculate on whether the questions will be scored or scratched because of the controversy. They also noted that under new state rules, the questions and answers won’t be released. |
That said, a couple don't have clear answers. And given the subject matter, a 100% clear answer is subjective to what Pearson decided, not any real merit.
For example:
Given that animals and fruit can talk in this world, the answer to 10 could easily be A or C. B or D don't stand out as clear correct answers, while the other questions have fairly clear answers.
And the question of wisdom. Moose or hare seem most likely, but I could see why someone would pick crow.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:26 am Post subject: |
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Actually, the official answers do exist, but one of the questions was thrown out for sucking so badly. It was the one that notageek and I both got wrong. All of the other ones have clear and obvious answers that a 10-year-old ought to be able to get.
The official answers were:
6. b. In the order in which events happen
7. c. annoyed
8. c. the owl <---
9. a. suspicious
10. d. They would have been happy to have cheered for a winner.
11. c. has a plan to fool the animals
Several questions ask for somewhat speculative or inductive reasoning based on empathy or an understanding of psychology, neither of which have anything to do with reading comprehension.
Question 8 was actually thrown out (not graded). The State paid the test developers $32 million to develop the test.
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:31 am Post subject: |
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What controversy? The test of a good English test is that your students read them. The fact that so many people are talking about it makes it one of the most successful tests ever in the history of English language test.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | What controversy? The test of a good English test is that your students read them. The fact that so many people are talking about it makes it one of the most successful tests ever in the history of English language test. |
You got question 8 wrong, and you didn't get it wrong because of a lack of English comprehension. That makes it a bad test.
rich449 would have gone to the front of the test room, asked for clarification, been told to sit down, acted out, been made to stand in the hall, and his mother would have had to leave work to come and get him.
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:36 am Post subject: |
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6. b. In the order in which events happen
7. a. hungry
8. b. The moose
9. a. Suspicious
10. a. The pineapple would have won the race.
11. c. has a plan to fool the animals
But then again, since standardized tests never count toward my grade, I usually didn't try _that_ hard. In some cases, I just made patterns with the filled in circles / ovals. Some of these answers reflect that, but I'm not mentioning which ones ;)
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notageek
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:37 am Post subject: |
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I don't think any of the answers are incorrect. It's one of those "you're all winners, thanks for participating" type of test. Designed to improve your self-confidence.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| pjp wrote: | 6. b. In the order in which events happen
7. a. hungry
8. b. The moose
9. a. Suspicious
10. a. The pineapple would have won the race.
11. c. has a plan to fool the animals
|
3 out of 6 correct; Asperger's
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:39 am Post subject: |
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If it's a real standardized test, that's not the case. In fact, you never learn the correct answer.
It's a test to determine if you're kid is a dolt and will end up with a name tag-on-shirt job, or if they have a chance. Your parents get mailed some results, but not a straight right/wrong per question.
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BoneKracker
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| notageek wrote: | | I don't think any of the answers are incorrect. It's one of those "you're all winners, thanks for participating" type of test. Designed to improve your self-confidence. |
It was a standardized test designed to measure the educational progress of students, teachers, and schools. This is part of "no child left behind" and "race to the top".
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pjp
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| Posted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| BoneKracker wrote: | | 2 out of 6 correct; Asperger's |
Since you can't count, what does that diagnose you with? Tardiness?
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