<p>@nihility At least you weren’t born Asian…</p>
<p>@nihility If people are emailing, I am actually happy regardless. Because if people argue that it was justified or not justified at least collegeboard knows it was controversial. Then maybe they wouldn’t put something like that on in the future.</p>
<p>I’m asian. And not everyone who was born in America is caucasian.</p>
<p>@tjhsstKid21 Exactly.</p>
<p>I don’t know what being a “foreigner” has anything to do with the validity of this problem. If it changes anything, I’m an Asian immigrant, and I got this question correct.</p>
<p>@bob Thank you! Also, I am technically an American, but I lived most of my life in France. Does that mean I am fully assimilated with American nutrition? No.</p>
<p>These are the arguments from jkim from the other post:
To whom it concerns at Collegeboard,</p>
<p>I took the U.S. Version of the SAT I earlier today, on December 3rd, 2011. During the test, I encountered a multiple-choice question on one of the math sections that showed a nutrition label for a box of crackers. This was a early number question, perhaps number 6 or 7, and thus, I assumed it would be relatively easy, since the general trend seems to be that the questions get more difficult as you progress farther into the section. The question was one of the the Roman Numeral type, which requires the test taker to find which statements MUST be true from a set of 3 Roman Numerals. The question showed a nutrition label with the standard serving size, number of servings box, calories, etc. and while I cannot remember what Roman Numeral I and III stated, I am almost positive that Roman Numeral I was correct and Roman Numeral III was incorrect. This leaves Roman Numeral II as the last statement to check and the only one which I found to be extremely confusing, ambiguous, and unfair. It stated something to this extent: “The Calories from Fat is less than 40% of the total calories”. On the nutrition label, there were two separate categories: Calories = 80 and Calories from Fat = 35. After reading Roman Numeral II and looking at the calorie numbers, I thought that the Calories and Calories from Fat were separate categories, as they were listed. Thus, I added 80 + 35 = 115 and divided 35/115 to find the ratio/percentage of 0.3043 (which is translated to 30.43%) and so I believed that Roman Numeral II was indeed TRUE, since the Calories from Fat were less than 40% according to my calculations. However, I became stuck on the problem because I then considered the idea that the Calories from Fat were possibly a PART of the Calories number, which would mean 35/80 = 0.4375 (which is translated to 43.75%), thus making Roman Numeral II FALSE. However, I stuck with my original answer (since people always say to stick with your intuition/first idea) and said answer choice D (I believe that is the right letter) which said that Roman Numerals I and II were true. I came to this conclusion because I thought that:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>If the Collegeboard intended for Roman Numeral II to be false, they would have likely made the categories: Total Calories and Calories from Fat, which would have made the question much less ambiguous. </p></li>
<li><p>This was one of the early questions, and so I assumed I was overthinking it.</p></li>
<li><p>Roman Numerals I and III, while I cannot remember their exact statements, were easily proved by arthimetic calculations similar to how I found Roman Numeral II to be true. For example, I believe Roman Numeral I asked for how many total crackers there were in the box, and that required the test taker to realize that he or she must multiply the serving size and servings per box categories. This statement was very clear and straightforward, which is how I assumed Roman Numeral II was intended.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>After I finished the SAT and arrived home, I looked at numerous and various nutrition labels and even googled the question “How do you read a nutrition label?” (which produced Nutrition Facts: An interactive guide to food labels - MayoClinic.com) and was dismayed to find that I indeed misinterpreted the label’s calories. Despite this, I still feel as though this problem was unwarrented and, overall, a misconstructed question.</p>
<p>Here is why I believe this question should be looked into for possible nullifcation/other retractive measures: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>First and foremost, a nutrition label should not have been included in the math section to begin with because understanding it requires outside knowledge that is not related to SAT I math. Support for this is taken directly from About the Tests - What is the SAT, which states “The SAT doesnt test logic or abstract reasoning. It tests the skills youre learning in school: reading, writing and math. Your knowledge and skills in these subjects are important for success in college and throughout your life” and “The mathematics section includes questions on arithmetic operations, algebra, geometry, statistics and probability”. I have never learned how to correctly read a nutrition label in school and I am sure many others have not as well. Additionally, none of the categories listed from the website include understanding questions on interpreting such labels. While it is indeed an arithmetic operation, I have never seen any other SAT 1 math question that required students to interpret anything other than various basic charts, graphs, diagrams, shapes, and figures. While knowing how to read a nutrition label would probably be considered “common knowledge”, in reality, a decent portion of people probably do not know how to. (While it is impossible to substantiate to the Collegeboard, I asked my parents how they would interpret a box of granola bar’s calorie information and, like me, they incorrectly assumed Calories and Calories from Fat were separate numbers.) Just like everyone else, I have read my fair share of nutrition labels intermittently; however, being asked to recall/recognize if these nutrition labels that I have read stated “Calorie and Calories from Fat” instead of perhaps, “Total Calories and Calories from Fat”, and compare it to the nutrition label on the SAT problem, all while rushing against the clock and being under-pressure, is a hard task to ask. What I am trying to say is that, without having been taught how to correctly read a nutrition label (such as myself and presumably many others), even people who have read nutrition labels before would potentially be confused. Also, please don’t neglect the fact that, while probably not a large number, but indeed, a portion of test takers may have never cared to read nutrition labels or looked at them carefully, thus making this question biased to them as well. </p></li>
<li><p>If anything, this question could have been so much clearer if it stated “Total Calories and Calories from Fat”; however, it does not. It seems almost ambiguous to say “Calories” and “Calories from Fat” on an SAT question, because it seems like if a test taker didn’t know ahead of time how to interpret the label and they are rushing through the question (to presumably have enough time for the harder, later questions), they would assume the calorie measurements are two separate categories, as opposed to one. While this very may well be what Collegeboard was trying to do, since many questions on the SAT, as a whole, utilize small nuances in wording and directions to force test takers to meticulously examine each question or risk making a careless mistake, this kind of “trick” question doesn’t seem fair since it involves outside knowledge that shouldn’t be required and, even with scrupulous examination of the nutrition label, would still be confusing to those who have no prior knowledge on how to correctly interpret them.</p></li>
<li><p>Lastly, although I am an Asian-American and was born in the United States, many test takers who took the U.S. Version of the SAT I are immigrants and do not have full mastery of the english language. If a fluent English speaker, such as I, found the wording on this nutrition label to be tricky and confusing, a test taker who has lived in the United States for less than 10 years would be even more disadvantaged than me. While many of these immigrants, who do not have full mastery of English, can and do take the TOEFL test to substitute their Critical Reading and Writing scores, this question was located in the MATH section, and thus, is uneffected by the TOEFL.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>While I do not mean to belabor the point and overreact to this problem, I feel as though, if indeed my answer is incorrect, (I would look utterly ridiculous for going on this digression if I was correct all along, but I certainly pray that I am.) it could impact my scores significantly. Overall, I felt confident about the rest of the math problems, and generally thought that they were quite easy, which may mean that the December 2011 test will have a harsh curve for the math section. By missing one question that I felt was not sufficient in gauging my understanding of SAT I Math, I could fall from a potential 800 to possibly a 770-750, and this is assuming that I correctly answered every other question! For someone who has high expectations, I find this is a significant difference, and seeing as how this is my last chance to take the SAT before sending my scores to prospective colleges, I wish to perform to the best of my ability, which I believe was hindered by the ambiguity of that question.</p>
<p>Please, I respectfully urge Collegeboard to take into consideration this reasoning, which is probably the same position that many other test takers have, and look into the question.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your time and attention.</p>
<p>Sincerely,
ME</p>
<p>YOU SHOULD INCLUDE SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN YOUR EMAIL.</p>
<p>@chinaboys Please do it.</p>
<p>@chinaboys You said yourself that it was one of the worst problems, so we should do whatever we can to nullify it</p>
<p>Yea, writing that much is totally going to make it automatically nullified rofl</p>
<p>Alright so time to throw my two cents in here. Im not 100% sure but i think i got this problem wrong. Not because of the calories but because i read III wrong. I think i put I and III if that was even a choice? Anyway, i can definitely see both sides of the story and will probably send an email to attempt to get it nullified only because i may have gotten it wrong. Had i gotten the question right would i send an email? probably not. Would i have gotten mad that other people were trying to get it nullified? Probably not. If you dont lose points on it then you shouldnt worry about it.</p>
<p>@Golfingtee7
haha way to exploit the system, but it won’t actually matter because the SAT won’t nullify this question.</p>
<p>I havent sent the email yet, dont know if ill get around to it. And it is possible to nullify this question. Will it happen? probably not but there is some chance, it really was worded pretty bad, just wish i hadnt overlooked the minor details XD</p>
<p>^I wish they would cancel that question, and omit 1 wrong math question from the people who got it right. Then I would have a shot at 800 again! But that won’t ever happen…</p>
<p>This is hardly a devious trick question. Sounds like you are angry about missing an easy question and not getting an 800.</p>
<p>@aldfig0
100% agree</p>