<p>We all know the famous example question, on the back of every exam multiple choice AP exam booklet, which states that Chicago is b) a city.</p>
<p>But is it really all that simple? Upon further analysis, it can be noted that a time period was not noted within the question. As Chicago was undoubtedly at one time e) a village, I have reason to believe that the question is ambiguous and deserves review.</p>
<p>Which leads me to another point: what if this is not the only mistake the College Board has made? Have you ever received a radically different score on a test than what you expected? College Board is notoriously infamous for not releasing MC answers. Why is that? Do they have something to hide? The one question they have released (the aforementioned Chicago question) is ambiguous, and arguably wrong. Who’s to say the rest of the scores they assign are not debatable?</p>
<p>The time to rally against College Board is now my friends, take arms against them, get into a fight, and move with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air</p>
<p>Senseless radicalism. Ever noticed how in some released exams, some items were not scored? I wonder why they do that if they disregard possible flaws or errors. </p>
<p>These tests go through so many stages that each question gets plenty of attention and refinement… they are 99.9% flawless. I’m sure radically low (or otherwise detectable) scores (they analyze what percentage of students got each question correct, and then break it down into what percentage of the 5’s got it right, etc.) would put up a red flag and automatically grab their attention to figure it out.</p>
<p>And to answer your question, any normal person can reason that you are expected to answer that sample question in the present:
It says "Chicago IS … " </p>
<p>So yes, although Chicago WAS once a village, it IS now a city.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be a joykill, but this really isn’t funny. The question clearly states that Chicago is a _____, implying the here and now.</p>
<p>What I did think was funny: me adding an extra answer of “musical” on AP Music Theory, circling it, and then showing it to my neighbors, much to the chagrin of the proctors. It’s certainly a more relevant answer for that exam.</p>
<p>Upon further analysis, it can be noted that a time period was noted within the question by the word “is.” As Chicago was undoubtedly at one time e) a village, it asks for what Chicago is, not was.</p>
<p>I too have been consistently perplexed by this extremely debatable example question. </p>
<p>First of all, one who has not adequately prepared for his/her AP examination may experience a brief moment of thrill when they see this question, if he/she believes that all questions will be as easy as this question seemingly is. This brief high will inevitably be crushed mere moments later (especially if the exam in question is AP Physics C Mechanics), which could only psychologically detriment this already unprepared person.</p>
<p>Second of all, this question is not as simple as it seems. The time period implied must be considered, as well as the specific geographic location referred to by the term “Chicago.” </p>
<p>One can only hope that this highly controversial example question does not appear on the back of the AP Human Geography MC booklets.</p>
<p>Perhaps the wording may disprove my point, but the question still does not account for individuals taking the exam in a Source Code machine within the past.</p>
<p>While I don’t necessarily agree with your position on the ‘Chicago’ question, I do believe that the CollegeBoard acts somewhat suspiciously, lacking transparency with things that often wouldn’t really change the playing field all that much.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I do seriously believe the CollegeBoard’s SAT and its counterparts should be abolished as a method of determining ‘intelligence’ in the college admission system. The reasons supporting this argument are endless.</p>
<p>Aptitude? Any ‘aptitude test’ that can be studied for using continual practice, coaching, and idiotic vocab memorization can’t possibly be an aptitude test.
And there have been a plethora of tests conducted that prove that there are poor/weak correlations between SAT scores and college GPAs.</p>
<p>So even if I revised myself to saying the SAT is a poor aptitude and college success indicator, I’d still be correct.</p>