Uha uha, i kan godt finde tænkehatten frem, gutter!
I USA har man eksamenstests for børn i 8.klasse (ved ikke, hvad det svarer til i DK), og i år fremgik følgende spørgsmål, som nu kritiseres for at være for underligt og svært at svare på.
Læs historien og giv et intelligent bud på svaret inkl. en begrundelse (det er amerikanerne åbenbart ligeglade med).
... The Pineapple and the Hare ...
In the olden times, animals could speak English, just like you and me. There was a lovely enchanted forest that flourished with a bunch of these magical animals. One day, a hare was relaxing by a tree. All of a sudden, he noticed a pineapple sitting near him.
The hare, being magical and all, told the pineapple, “Um, hi.” The pineapple could speak English too.
“I challenge you to a race! Whoever makes it across the forest and back first wins a ninja! And a lifetime’s supply of toothpaste!” The hare looked at the pineapple strangely, but agreed to the race.
The next day, the competition was coming into play. All the animals in the forest (but not the pineapples, for pineapples are immobile) arranged a finish/start line in between two trees. The coyote placed the pineapple in front of the starting line, and the hare was on his way.
Everyone on the sidelines was bustling about and chatting about the obvious prediction that the hare was going to claim the victory (and the ninja and the toothpaste). Suddenly, the crow had a revolutionary realization.
“AAAAIEEH! Friends! I have an idea to share! The pineapple has not challenged our good companion, the hare, to just a simple race! Surely the pineapple must know that he CANNOT MOVE! He obviously has a trick up his sleeve!” exclaimed the crow.
The moose spoke up.
“Pineapples don’t have sleeves.”
“You fool! You know what I mean! I think that the pineapple knows we’re cheering for the hare, so he is planning to pull a trick on us, so we look foolish when he wins! Let’s sink the pineapple’s intentions, and let’s cheer for the stupid fruit!” the crow passionately proclaimed. The other animals cheered, and started chanting, “FOIL THE PLAN! FOIL THE PLAN! FOIL THE PLAN!”
A few minutes later, the hare arrived. He got into place next to the pineapple, who sat there contently. The monkey blew the tree-bark whistle, and the race began! The hare took off, sprinting through the forest, and the pineapple ...
It sat there.
The animals glanced at each other blankly, and then started to realize how dumb they were. The pineapple did not have a trick up its sleeve. It wanted an honest race — but it knew it couldn’t walk (let alone run)!
About a few hours later, the hare came into sight again. It flew right across the finish line, still as fast as it was when it first took off. The hare had won, but the pineapple still sat at his starting point, and had not even budged.
The animals ate the pineapple.
Here are two of the questions:
1. Why did the animals eat the pineapple?
a. they were annoyed
b. they were amused
c. they were hungry
d. they wanted to
2. Who was the wisest?
a. the hare
b. moose
c. crow
d. owl
Det tåbeligste er næsten, at man på rigtig amerikansk vis præsenterer en række muligheder frem for at lade eleven resonere sig frem til svarene på egen hånd.
Mine bud:
1: Alle bud ser rimelige ud, men vælger d., da den med sikkerhed - af filosofisk princip - aldrig kan være ukorrekt.
2: Den er langt sværere! Jeg gætter på, at det er skaden (crow).
Elgen virker dum, og det gør haren også. Skaden tror i det mindste, at ananassen har en smart plan. Desværre for skaden tænker den kun på 2. level, mens ananassen er helt ude at surfe på 5. level!
Tankerækken for ananassen er som følger: Jeg tror, at dyrene vil tro, at jeg vil vide, at de ikke kan tro, at jeg kan vinde og derfor tror, jeg vil snyde, hvilket jeg derfor ikke vil.
Men hvad er fordelen for ananassen ved at tænke på så dybt et level? Hvorfor arrangere et løb, den ikke kan vinde mod nogle modstandere, som er villig til at æde taberen?
Svaret kan næsten kun være, at den gerne vil ædes, men ikke kun af et enkelt dyr.
Jeg ser det for mig: Da ananassen en dag ser en hare komme nær, beslutter den sig for at snyde haren for et enemåltid ved at lokke den til at arrangere et løb i håb om at tiltrække flere dyr, så det ikke kun er haren, som får ananas til aften.
Ananassen ved godt, at haren ikke vil lave et løb uden en gulerod og vælger derfor at lokke med ninjaer og tandpasta. To gode valg, som forståeligt overbeviser haren, men ikke skaden, der tror, at frugten har et trick i ærmet.
Elementært, min kære doktor Watson. :-D
PS: Bliver der overhoved nævnt en ugle i den historie?