<p>Yeah, I meant to choose D as well. I and III.</p>
<p>But, I accidentally chose I and II by accident. </p>
<p>I should try not to do this on the actual SAT.</p>
<p>Xiggi, is D correct?</p>
<p>Well, it cannot be any that includes II. That leaves you two to pick from. And then see my post 17. The SAT writers make sure every word counts. So … :)</p>
<p>^ It’s just asking what COULD be true, so it must be D, right?
There are situations where 1 is true, and situations where III is true. So I and II COULD be true.</p>
<p>@xiggi I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to argue… Are you saying that the answer isn’t D because I and III can’t occur simultaneously? If so, I agree with ^. It only asks which could be true. I and III both could be true. It doesn’t ask: “which could be true at the same time?”</p>
<p>Yeah if the SAT actually determined a correct answer with something as nitpicky as the use of the word ‘and’ they would get sued out the ass. I think since ‘and’ is always used in these Roman Numerals problems, they probably would choose to be consistent, whether or not the word is technically in the use of the problem. We all know what the question is asking.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Are you sure? </p>
<p>Version A
The median of a particular set of 10 integers is itself an integer. Give an example when the integers of the set are all identical AND the 5th largest and 6th largest integers of the set are odd.</p>
<p>That is what “I and III only” means! </p>
<p>OR</p>
<p>Version B
The median of a particular set of 10 integers is itself an integer. Give an example when the integers of the set are all identical OR when the 5th largest and 6th largest integers of the set are odd.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is why ETS spends millions debugging questions, and why companies a la PR and Kaplan do not EVER get close to write adequate questions that remove all ambiguities.</p>
<p>Let’s try a new one:</p>
<p>You have a set of n positive integers where the difference between the largest and the smallest integers on the list is k and 0<k<n. Which of the following will always increase the vaue of the median?</p>
<p>I. Adding n to each member of the set
II. Adding n to the lowest member of the set
III. Adding n to the highest member of the set</p>
<p>A. I only
B. II only
C. I or II but not III
C. I or III but not II
D. I, II or II</p>
<p>C?
10charsss</p>
<p>My answer is A. Adding n to each member will increase median. Adding n to the lowest number won’t necessarily raise the median as in the case of 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3. Adding n to the largest number won’t change the median</p>
<p>Goddamn I hate these. </p>
<p>Why is this even on a college entrance test…when will you ever deal with weird median problems in higher level math anyway. I swear to God these problems exist to test in your luck in thinking of examples that answer the question.</p>
<p>The answer to my question was D. The choices I, II, and III are mutually exclusive as written. However, I think the usual interpretation of the keyword “could” is to imagine different situations that could make the choices true, in spite of the “and” in the answers. The ETS has had questions like this as well. For example, see question #15, section #5 of the [url=<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools]March</a> 2005 SAT<a href=“aka%20Official%20Practice%20Test%202007-08”>/url</a>, which is a “could be true” question with mutually exclusive I, II, III choices, and the answer is all three.</p>
<p>IMHO, each problem needs to stand on its own. In this case, you stated the problem as </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For D to be a possible correct answer, you need to have TWO different sets of integers, and that is different from what is stated in the problem. A particular set means a … unique set. </p>
<p>As I wrote before, one needs to be able to follow the problem and find an answer that satisfies ALL the conditions. Since I believe it to be impossible to build “a particular set of 10 integers” that is compatible with BOTH I and III, D cannot be the answer. </p>
<p>In addition, the possible results reinforce the notion of ONE set as all choices present the term “of THE set.” Again indicating the presence of one set, and not the potential use of different sets. </p>
<p>I. The integers of the set are all identical.
II. The integers **of the set **are consecutive.
III. The 5th largest and 6th largest integers of the set are odd.</p>
<p>Anyway, it seems that I violated one of my own rules … never discuss non-official ETS questions. :)</p>
<p>“Never” is a strong word. I think non-ETS questions are OK if you are using them for a specific purpose: to illustrate or practice with a specific technique or concept. And you should know what that concept is when you are done. </p>
<p>The problem is that when you are ready to start doing practice tests, then I think we agree that the non-collegeboard stuff is worse than useless. It’s easy to write a test that looks like an sat. It’s really hard to write one that truly matches the SAT in level of difficulty and time requirements. And if your fake SAT has even one or two clunkers, they become harmful time sinks. </p>
<p>So for example, the median question I posted was designed to illustrate that a median is a stubborn thing, surprisingly insensitive to changes in single data points. That concept has shown up on the sat a number of times. But I know that I can’t write 20 questions like that and call it an SAT section (and I used to write for the ACT) – it would look and feel like an SAT, but it wouldn’t be.</p>
<p>PCK, what I meant is that it is not a good idea for ME to discuss non-ETS questions. In this case, I might be arguing with Fignewton about how to interpret a question he wrote. :)</p>
<p>@Fignetwon where do you get those practice tests? ;o</p>
<p>^See the ilnks in [thread=757034]this thread[/thread].</p>
<p>I could drop the word “particular”, but I fail to see the difference in logic with the ETS question, which is talking about a specific point in the plane (as opposed to a particular set). To me, the ETS choices imply “The point M”, even though they just say “M”. Clearly the intention was to have the reader consider multiple different versions of the specific point to satisfy the various choices. My intention was to have the reader consider different, particular sets.</p>
<p>I don’t make pretend SATs but I feel that non-ETS practice questions can be very valuable. This one included :)</p>