• ∟⊔⊤∦∣≶@lemmy.nz
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    1 day ago

    What?

    Tracey takes 4 from Rachel. Tracey now has 4, or 1 quarter, Rachel has now 12, or 3 quarters.

    Tracey asks for the remaining quarter.

    …what ‘remaining’ quarter?

    Tracey should get a slap because they obviously don’t know what a quarter is.

    • AdolfSchmitler@lemmy.world
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      6 hours ago

      OK, start with 16 and she takes 4, so you have 12 left.

      Now of that 12 she wants a quarter of them, 1/4 x 12 = 3.

      Add that 3 to the 4 she took at the start and you have 7 total.

      The wording makes the question confusing.

    • JayDee@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      The ‘remaining’ quarter means a quarter of what is remaining of Rachel’s pile. The phrasing is odd but there really isn’t any way to misconstrue it without turning the meaning into nonsense that you can’t do math on.

        • JayDee@lemmy.world
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          10 minutes ago

          It absolutely is 1/4th of what remains. Rachel will be left with 9 and Tracey will have 7. They’re not going to say ‘what remains of the quarter tracy took’ because it’s nonsensical. Tracy took a quarter so there’s nothing that remains of the quarter tracy took. they’re not going to mean ‘there is only one quarter left and tracy takes It’ either, because that also is nonsense. The only meaning that makes any possible sense, then, is 'tracy takes one quarter of what remains, which is 12/4 = 3. Tracy takes 3, that’s the only answer that makes logical sense.

    • rustydrd@sh.itjust.works
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      19 hours ago

      It’s a trick question. Tracey purposely asks for “the remaining quarter”, which is inherently unclear. She then exploits Rachel’s confusion to run off with all 16 chocolate bars.

      People like Tracey should be behind bars (pun not intended).

    • dalekcaan@feddit.nl
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      1 day ago

      This sounds like some SAT “make questions harder by making them more confusing” bullshit.

      • Trampampoline@sh.itjust.works
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        4 hours ago

        Wait until no one is proofreading Ai tests.

        If Tom has four apples and Jeff is invisible, how far is it to Perth Australia?

      • Shizzymcjizzles@fedinsfw.app
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        21 hours ago

        That shit drove me insane. You’d think they would vet the questions better. I spent more time trying to understand what it was they wanted solved than actually solving it. Once that was clear finding the answers took no time.

    • miseducator@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Yeah, should be something along the lines of “… asks for a quarter of the remaining chocolate bars”. Or maybe not. Who knows?

  • Johanno@feddit.org
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    1 day ago

    A slap is correct.

    Then follow up with the unclear task.

    First answer is 16 - 4 = 12 12 /4 = 3 3+4=7

    However it could also mean that 16/4 =4 and then 4+0 =4

    Or you could also understand that Tracey wants 3 quarters so she would have 12

    • Capt. Wolf@lemmy.world
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      18 hours ago

      It does say “remaining quarter” which is definitely meant to be a quarter of what’s left. With word problems, you generally follow the order the statements are made. So your first assumption is correct.

      16-4=12

      Rachel is left with twelve bars, which we need for the next part of the statement.

      12/4=3

      Tracey asks for a “remaining quarter” and thus takes three.

      4+3=7

      Tracey now has 7 bars.

      It’s just a terribly phrased sentence. Appropriately worded and still coded correctly, it should say something like:

      Rachel has sixteen chocolate bars. Tracey takes four from her and then asks for a quarter of what remains.

      How many bars does Tracey now have?

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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        1 hour ago

        But that’s not what is being asked. What you’re talking about is a quarter of the remaining candy. What they’re asking is “the remaining quarter” implying what she has left is a quarter of what she originally had.

        Meaning she must’ve had 48 before everyone started stealing her candy.