I've been giving him a CAT prep test, to get ready for the real test that he'll be taking in June. Here is one of the questions that he had today:
When Hailey was given her surprise, she already knew about it. "Who let the cat out of the bag?" her father asked.
What does Hailey's father want to know?
A. who gave Hailey a cat without asking her parents
B. who told Hailey about her surprise before she received it
C. who bought such a wonderful surprise gift for Hailey
D. who opened the door and let Hailey's cat go outside
Micah circled "D."
ME: Micah, "D" is not the correct answer. Do you know why?
MICAH: Ohhhh . . . because the cat was let out of a bag, not the door.
ME: Well, no. "Let the cat out of the bag" is just a saying. It doesn't really have anything to do with a cat. It means that you tell someone something that was supposed to be a secret.
MICAH: So it must be "B," right?
ME: Right!
MICAH: So someone must have told Hailey that she was getting a surprise cat. Lucky!
Sigh.
5 comments:
I guess I would avoid asking Micah the musical question: "Who let the dogs out?"
The bigger question, really, is why *this* question is on a standardized test. Okay, understanding standard idioms is a useful skill, especially if one has Asperger Syndrome and is a bit impaired in that area, but, really now. I would argue -- at great length and with many hand gestures and twitches -- that this question sheds little light on reading comprehension skills, especially at Micah's age.
When I see questions like this, I really understand the people who talk about how gifted children often overthink stndardized tests.
Sorry, I was starting to overheat for a moment there. :-) Your post is another good example of why it probably is good that I *am* homeschooling my boys; teachers would just hate me.
Jim - I'll avoid "You eat like a bird" too. Don't want any worms showing up at the table.
Curmudgeoness - I had the very same response. What sort of stupid question is this!? But that's precisely why I'm having them take these lousy standardized tests now - to help prepare them for the ridiculous questions that may mean the difference between a good grade on the SAT or not.
I don't think you should worry about it until he's 14/15 and he still answers the question that way. In my adolescent development class we talked about the different development stages of children, and he is in the pre-adolescent stage where he takes everything literally, and doesn't understand metaphors and abstract ideas. Google Piaget, he was one of the theorists we studeied, he talks about the different cognitive development stages and the age groups, but remember not everything is set in stone.
I think he's funny and cute--embrace it!
Try teaching figurative language to Second Language learners...I agree with "Curmudgeoness" this is an example of a question that shouldn't be on a standardized test for many reasons that I don't really want to get into.
I am glad that Micah can think for himself! He is such a cute kid!
Post a Comment