Literacy Test

[Eddie Teach]

That test looks like a serious pain in the ass.

[Siege]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?
And isn't a line around something a circle?

[derspiess]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?

The number 1.  But they don't want to give away that it's a number, I guess.

And isn't a line around something a circle?

Yep, but I've seen it worded that way in other places.

[Razgovory]

How many people passed?

I don't have those stats, but my impression of the situation in 1964 Louisiana is "not many". Coincidentally, I also believe that a significantly larger proportion of black people were unable to prove a gr. 5 education compared to the white population.

Whites were grandfathered in, so only blacks and possibly outsiders had to take the test.  Typically less then 10% could pass the test.

[garbon]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?

The number 1.  But they don't want to give away that it's a number, I guess.

And isn't a line around something a circle?

Yep, but I've seen it worded that way in other places.

I don't get the trick of draw a line (circle) around the number or the letter because since it is an "or" why not just opt for the part that you can clearly do which is circle that number (though as Siege said you have to get your head around the idea of draw a line around something. ).

[The Minsky Moment]

The last question (?) appears to be missing at least one word.  I would question whether the people who wrote the test got through the 5th grade.

[garbon]

The last question (?) appears to be missing at least one word.  I would question whether the people who wrote the test got through the 5th grade.

[Kleves]

I would be very suprised if more than 10% of the population could pass this test today.

[Josephus]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?

The number 1.  But they don't want to give away that it's a number, I guess.

No. That's what's so confusing. The first line reads something like:

1. Draw a line around the number or letter in this sentence.

The "1." is not in that sentence.

I think the answer is "a"

[alfred russel]

How many people passed?

I don't have those stats, but my impression of the situation in 1964 Louisiana is "not many". Coincidentally, I also believe that a significantly larger proportion of black people were unable to prove a gr. 5 education compared to the white population.

Whites were grandfathered in, so only blacks and possibly outsiders had to take the test.  Typically less then 10% could pass the test.

I'm going to take a guess here: no one really passed the test. There were a very few respected black people that were allowed to vote. They "passed" the test. The rest "failed". The answers actually given were probably not so relevant.

[Camerus]

Given the purpose of the test, it's not really a surprise that its questions are sometimes written to be as vague and confusing as possible.

[Viking]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?

The number 1.  But they don't want to give away that it's a number, I guess.

No. That's what's so confusing. The first line reads something like:

1. Draw a line around the number or letter in this sentence.

The "1." is not in that sentence.

I think the answer is "a"

Another possible answer is to observe that "the number" has the definite article and "letter" has the indefinite article. So any letter will do since 1. is no in the sentence.

[Syt]

Or you're supposed to draw a line around "the letter" or "number" in the sentence. 

[Josquius]

Or you're supposed to draw a line around "the letter" or "number" in the sentence. 

Pipped me to it, that's the way I'm meaning now, around either one of those words.

[dps]

Question 1 is too confusing. What number or letter do they want to draw a line around?

The number 1.  But they don't want to give away that it's a number, I guess.

No. That's what's so confusing. The first line reads something like:

1. Draw a line around the number or letter in this sentence.

The "1." is not in that sentence.

I think the answer is "a"

That's because you apparantly can't read.  It doens't say "in this sentence", it says "of this sentence".  "1" is clearly the number of the sentence.  FAIL.

Given the purpose of the test, it's not really a surprise that its questions are sometimes written to be as vague and confusing as possible.

True, but most of them are fairly easy if you parse them correctly.  I don't think there's anyway anyone could have actually read them carefully enough in the time allotted to pass, though.  It was probably pretty much as AR suggested.