Worst Question (ever)

[darkRae]

(I don't know if this topic is appropriate here, but it's still discuss-able )

Alright, here goes.

We had an English test this morning, and I (probably other guys too, I don't know) found this...confusing question.
Let's see if you're able to answer it easily

There was a passage, describing about Flood.
And after the passage, well, there were questions.

One of them is :

Why may periodic flood happen?
a. It occurs naturally.
b. Due to intense rainfall.
c. Because soil and vegetation cannot absorb the water effectively.
d. Because of the combination of heavy rain and melting snow

That question referred to this sentence(s) :

...The periodic flood occurs naturally, caused by heavy rain and sometimes combined with melting snow. That caused the river to overflow and because the soil and vegetation cannot absorb the water effectively, it floods...

Note: Not exactly the same.

So I was confused and answered B.
The choices were... confusing. They all make sense.

What do you guys think?

 

[Wiseman_2]

I would have answered any of them, as they are all correct. I would also then mention so in my answer, or write it next to the question.

 

[darkRae]

Unfortunately, that was a Multiple Choice test where you need to choose only one answer and then blacken a circle that matches the letter in your answer sheet.

 

[AceHart]

e. Nyarlathotep said so


Optionally, it's just natural.


> The choices were... confusing. They all make sense.

While there is an obvious conflict here

 

[Sim]

The only answer which doesn't match is D), since the text says "caused by heavy rain and sometimes combined with melting snow" while the answer says "by the combination of heavy rain and melting snow", but it only says "sometimes" in the text, therefore d) is not the right answer.

Problem is... the other 3 seem to work.

 

[darkRae]

Daxtreme, you're like, the first guy besides me that says that D is not correct

Well, most of my friends answered D, and I had to explain them a lot of times about that 'sometimes'

Well, yeah, that's the problem. We were supposed to choose one.

> While there is an obvious conflict here

Eh... what?
(not so obvious to me)

 

[Flare]

immediate thought would be that its a trick question. from what i remember my english teacher saying, any (logical) answer is correct and this seems to be a perfect example.

i, personally, would rule out C since vegetation not being able to hold water cannt directly cause a flood and possibly A since "it occurs naturally" doesnt really explain why the flood may occur.

i would go with B since if it is caused by heavy rain, intense rainfall would be a logical reason as to why the floods happen

> While there is an obvious conflict here

Eh... what?
(not so obvious to me)

as in, all the answers are (at least) partially correct, and since you can only choose 1, theres a conflict since you cant choose THE correct answer if there are multiple correct answers (i think thats what ace meant anyways ^^)




BTW, ive never really been good at english, but logic should be sufficient in this case

 

[sjakie]

I'd go for A.
It occurs naturally.

B, C, and D are correct, but not really why flood occurs, they are just some of the things that cause flood.
Since B, C, and D are all natural, I'd say A kinda contains B, C, and D as well, and is the correct answer.

.....Why do I have the feeling none of you will agree with me?

 

[Flare]

I would disagree with you sjakie because when they say "it occurs naturally", I get the thought that it's as good as saying "it just does happen, there's no explanation as to why it does" when there obviously is, sh*t doesn't happen by itself does it? Maybe I'm wrong and A is correct answer, but that's just what I think ^^.

Also, B (and, to a lesser extent, D) both sound somewhat correct if you compared it to why puddles occur (may as well stick with water-related stuff). They occur as a result of rainfall (or melted snow), not because they just appear out of nowhere ('occuring naturally')


Hmmm, I feel this could be the start of something big (how do floods [and puddles ] actually occur?)

 

[Ninva]

I would sketch in my own answer.

E. All of the above... except for D.

 

[Pineapple]

Multiple choice - It is not 3 wrong, 1 right. It is choose the best answer.

TheHelper.net is what type of forum?

a) World Editor help
b) Creative Graphics and Writting
c) Blizzard Tech Support
d) General Tech Support

Yea, they are all right to a point. But only one is right right.

 

[duyen]

Are you sure it wasn't which one isn't a cause for flooding?

 

[Bartuc08]

i skim read and saw periodic fluids... then i saw flooding and got scared...

then i read it and was like "oh... thats not bad"

 

[Varine]

I would mark it an complain to the instructor.

 

[esb]

I would have checked B either way. It says 'sometimes' so it's obviously not D, and not C. And A is just... dumb .

It did say it is caused by rainfall, not by natural.

 

[Varine]

I would have checked B either way. It says 'sometimes' so it's obviously not D, and not C. And A is just... dumb .

It did say it is caused by rainfall, not by natural.

Is rainfall no longer natural? What's the world coming to now? Is this a new ploy the enviromentalists are taking up? I'll get them back....

Heavy rain and intense rain are different. Heavy rain would be coming down in big drops and there's a lot of it. Intense would be the kind that's blowing around everywhere in the wind; it's the kind that when you walk outside and it hits you you're like "F*ck that hurt!" and then go back inside.

 

[sqrage]

I think if you gave us the whole story the way it's written, the answer would become very clear...

 

[esb]

You can also "plug in".

Periodic Floods happen because naturally.
Periodic Floods happen due to intense rainfall.

It's obvious it happens naturally, except those times humans cause them /sarcasm. But why exactly?

Heavy or intense, doesn't matter if it hurts you a bit, it can cause floods.

 

[Varine]

You can also "plug in".

Periodic Floods happen because naturally.
Periodic Floods happen due to intense rainfall.

It's obvious it happens naturally, except those times humans cause them /sarcasm. But why exactly?

Heavy or intense, doesn't matter if it hurts you a bit, it can cause floods.

They are two entirely different adjectives so one can't be used in place of the other. Besides, A would be the response expected on most exams because there are multiple choices that can be accepted, and since all of them were noted in the text and all of them are natural, periodic floods occur by cause of nature. I doubt that was transcribed word for word, so I can infer slightly different wording.

 

[esb]

True, but depending on the question for the section (Which is the best answer) and the rest of the passage, the answers may change.