Declan Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Declan, If it was June, Albert wouldn't be able to say "I know Bernard doesn't know". Do you get why? I read it as both knew the date. Badly written question relying in negatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I knocked it up in Excel... ...has to be Jul 16? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x-in-man Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Douglas, the a answer is Douglas. It's always Douglas. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliX Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Declan, If it was June, Albert wouldn't be able to say "I know Bernard doesn't know". Do you get why? I read it as both knew the date. Badly written question relying in negatives. You can't really blame the question if you didn't read it properly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Douglas, the a answer is Douglas. It's always Douglas. Pickles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Declan, If it was June, Albert wouldn't be able to say "I know Bernard doesn't know". Do you get why?I read it as both knew the date. Badly written question relying in negatives. You can't really blame the question if you didn't read it properly! Yes I can. I blame myself if something I write is misunderstood. I don't think question setters should be held to a lower standard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I have very strong memories of regularly struggling with the language of maths questions. My children do too and I really encourage them to write something like - "I don't fully understand what I am being asked, but I interpret it as meaning ..." At least then there is a thread of logic visible to the teacher/examiner. I feel ambiguous language can make maths questions really difficult - it is after all a discipline which should totally remove ambiguity. I agree with Declan the sentence "Cherryl tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and day of her birthday respectively" is not a clear sentence. Delcan, how would you reword it to make it clearer?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Tatlock Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 The sentence... "Cherryl tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and day of her birthday respectively" ...couldn't be more precise and succinct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I agree with Declan the sentence "Cherryl tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and day of her birthday respectively" is not a clear sentence. The word respectively clarifies it. Made sense to me anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) Perhaps they're better than us at English in Singapore too. As well as math(s). Edited April 14, 2015 by pongo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrighty Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I really encourage them to write something like - "I don't fully understand what I am being asked, but I interpret it as meaning ..." At least then there is a thread of logic visible to the teacher/examiner. This is a good point, and something I still do myself occasionally. Even at the highest levels of maths, what's clear to the person who wrote the question may not be clear to anyone else, but if you make reasonable assumptions and go forwards from there, you'll still gain marks. In this case though I thought the wording was clear. They could have been a bit more explicit and said "A is told the month, and B is told the day. A knows that B has been told the day, and B knows that A has been told the month. They don't know precisely however what the other knows", but perhaps part of the test is the comprehension of the correct English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I agree with Declan the sentence "Cherryl tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and day of her birthday respectively" is not a clear sentence. The word respectively clarifies it. Made sense to me anyway. That's not the unclear bit. I read it that Albert and Bernard didn't know ought, except that the other person knew nothing either, until the girl told Albert the month and Bernard the date. But really the Albert and Bernard's statements were made after the girl told them the info. And that changed the other's understanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarne Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I think my method of having a go and then looking up the solution on the internet is endemic of most people now. Tis a good brain twister though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Declan Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Got it - 1952, a Wednesday I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliX Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I agree with Declan the sentence "Cherryl tells Albert and Bernard separately the month and day of her birthday respectively" is not a clear sentence. The word respectively clarifies it. Made sense to me anyway. That's not the unclear bit. I read it that Albert and Bernard didn't know ought, except that the other person knew nothing either, until the girl told Albert the month and Bernard the date. But really the Albert and Bernard's statements were made after the girl told them the info. And that changed the other's understanding. Do you read bottom to top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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