<p>I got [A]… only took me about 20 seconds to solve, I don’t see the big deal of why its SOOO tricky.</p>
<p>This was a fairly easy question.</p>
<p>Each number can only satisfy one condition. That means Kyle’s birthday is any even number not divisible by five. Look for that, one even number divisible by five, and one odd number not divisible by five. Thus, it has to be <a href=“a”>b</a>**.</p>
<p>I got A but the wording didn’t really make sense. I would have been irritated by this question had it actually been on the SAT.</p>
<p>■■■■■…I just love how the solution was given and then a couple hours later, more people give the SAME SOLUTION again and again.</p>
<p>Ok I understand where the answer comes from now, </p>
<p>Thankyou everyone for helping</p>
<p>But I dont think a question like this would show up on the REAL SAT.</p>
<p>It could show up on the real SAT…nothing wrong with it, and it’s from the blue book, so it could definitely show up. I can see where your confusion comes from, however, so I’ll try to explain it.</p>
<p>Choice A:
1)
Let’s assume 14 is the day of the month of Kyle’s birthday
Satisfied one condition (it’s not odd or a multiple of 5)</p>
<p>2)
20 is the number that is a multiple of 5 (not odd, and we already agreed to assume 14 is the birthday day, so it doesn’t satisfy that condition), so condition 2 is satisfied</p>
<p>3)
13 is odd (not a multiple of 5, and not the birthday day we agreed upon), so condition 3 alone is satisfied</p>
<p>Yes, theoretically any day from the choices can be a birthday day, so you must assume one of those days is the birthday day and then make sure the other 2 numbers satisfy the other 2 conditions without satisfying more than 1 condition (this also means you can’t have a repeat of the assumed birthday day because then you are satisfying that condition twice).</p>
<p>Don’t fret too much over 1 question.</p>
<p>The answer is definitely A.</p>
<p>The most “real” thing about this problem (other than the fact that it comes from the blue book!) is that it requires CAREFUL reading and thinking. The words mean exactly what they say – not what you assume they might mean but exactly what they do mean. In this way, the math section is like a reading comprehension test, but not one where you have to read beneath the surface. You just have to read the surface accurately!</p>
<p>In this case, if you interpreted the words to mean: “every requirement is met by one number”, then you had trouble. But if you went with the precise wording, it was clear that every number could meet one and only one of the requirements. </p>
<p>So this problem may be annoying, but it is NOT flawed and it IS realistic.</p>
<p>OKAY GUYS STOP SAYING THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN IN DIFFERENT WORDS. THE OP UNDERSTANDS IT. Jeez. Lol</p>
Its a pretty good question actually. You have exactly one option only for each number.
Glad you like it. It is indeed one of the best ETS questions! 
Odd to see this thread resurrected. But over the years, I have had occasion to teach this question many times. It is completely sound and valid, but I may be able to see what torments students about it. I think the issue is vocabulary and what @DrSteve calls “mathematical maturity.” We math-y types read that each number “satisfies” exactly one of the conditions and we read it as “fails to violate”. But a student less fluent in the language of math may read “satisfies” as “is designated to meet the requirements of”. So if they had chosen to word the problem: “Each of the three requirements holds true for one and only one of the three numbers…”, I suspect that more students would get it right.
But again, there is nothing incorrect about the wording they chose. And I know this was from the Blue Book, but does anyone know if this problem ever appeared on an actual test? Even the blue books have a couple of problems that have struck me as a little odd, or a little out of place in terms of their difficulty level, but not those from actual tests.
Basically, it’s why the SAT is an IQ test. Or was an IQ test. Or is bad for being an IQ test.
IQ is a tricky thing. It is supposed to be a measure of innate intelligence and independent of knowledge. With this definition, the SAT certainly does not measure IQ. It does however measure mathematical maturity to some extent. The thing that I call mathematical maturity is a good measure of someone’s “potential” SAT score, but not their actual score. In order to realize that potential score, it is usually necessary to prepare (there are always exceptions to every rule however).
I actually have no idea if a true IQ test even exists. All the ones that I have taken are more a measure of mathematical maturity (or something similar) which can be improved. I have never actually researched this myself. Does anyone know if a true IQ test actually exists, and where one can be found?
Yes, it is. V-e-r-r-y tricky.
I have to disagree. The question is neither an IQ nor a tricky question. It is a brutally straightforward question that requires reading comprehension and reasoning. It does depart from the often moronic paint by the numbers process that masquerades as math in high school. Most kids learn to answer questions by repetition and following a narrow path to the solution. That yields math competency and little else.
It is not surprising that many find this type of problems challenging and puzzling. It is however alarming how simple problems that deviate from spoon fed problems of equations create claims of a la “this is tricky” and probably why it might not passed the experimental stage at ETS. Too bad!
Some SAT require a healthy dose of mental agility. This one is more one that requires attention.
This question serves as a good example illustrating the benefits of using official College Board questions for practice. The vocabulary that @pckeller describes can be learned with this type of practice problem.
Questions like these are the reason I think the SAT is a much better test than ACT. Smart kids who suck at math have no problem with these types. Beyond knowing what an odd number is, there’s no math at all. Love it. It’s a beautiful question that actually tests reasoning.
@neatoburrito – Some would say that this is the reason the ACT is better! And I wonder if there will be a place for this kind of problem in the new SAT.
But again, even the reasoning required here is minimal. I think students who miss it think that “satisfy” means something like “be officially designated to fulfill”. So they think that 25 can be designated to “satisfy” the odd requirement and 20 can be designated to “satisfy” the multiple of 5 requirement.
As a tutor, I hope these do continue to appear. I agree with you that “smart kids who suck at math” can learn to do this. The idea that you can deal with a math test by reading, thinking, and playing is often a happy surprise. Because @xiggi is right – you can make it through much of high school math without doing those things.
@xiggi I was agreeing with the Doc there, that the whole nature of IQ is tricky. I don’t think the question is tricky at all. I still think it is an IQ question. You see this kind of problem time and again on IQ tests.
A fifth grader has all the math necessary to solve this problem.