. . . the aptly named Minister for Education sought to discomfit an Opposition oppo on the business of GCSE exams getting easier. Mr.Balls asked the Honorable Member for Somewhere, and quoting from actual exam papers:- 1) To name the enzyme which brought about some particular process of digestion, 2) to explain how a flourine atom becomes a flouride ion, and 3) to work out three quarters of one and two sevenths, or something like that.
The Opposition MP did not rise to the bait, so presumably Balls thought he had proved his point. Well, sorry Ed - but in the context of the subjects in question, all three questions are trivial. The first asks the candidate to regurgitate a bit of physiological fact. A dumkopff candidate can answer it without knowing anything about enzymes, what they are, what they do, what digestion involves . . . need I go on? The second asks for information relevant to all chemical processes (electron exchange). That one knows nothing of chemical physics does not prove the question is difficult - in fact, once again, it is - or should be - trivially easy for a chemistry student. A few more give-away marks. What to say about the third question? In my day children of 11 or 12 could do this sort of thing - though why we were asked to remains a mystery. These days, many first year University students in technical subjects can't do this sort of thing. Some of them can't "cross-multiply." Plenty of engineering students reach the Universities never having heard of "logarithms" - because they use calculators in school for division - and so are totally bemused by elementary differential equations. The Open University admits students without asking for proof that they can read and write . . radio and TV editors no longer know the difference between "less" and "fewer", "jealous" and "envious", "may" and "might", etc. etc . . most German truck drivers can speak English better than the Brits . . . but don't get me started.
What's the FTSE doing just now . . . ? (Hey, Mr.Balls, what's meant by a "covered call"? You perhaps don't know the answer - but that doesn't prove the question is "difficult" - merely that the answer ain't to be found in your extensive specialist knowledge of digestive processes, chemistry or arithmetic.)
And that's another thing! I wish end-of-life programmes like "Countdown" would stop referring to "maths" when they mean "arithmetic" Arithmetic is to maths as paintbrushes are to Turner sunsets.
What's the FTSE doing just now . . . ? (Hey, Mr.Balls, what's meant by a "covered call"? You perhaps don't know the answer - but that doesn't prove the question is "difficult" - merely that the answer ain't to be found in your extensive specialist knowledge of digestive processes, chemistry or arithmetic.)
And that's another thing! I wish end-of-life programmes like "Countdown" would stop referring to "maths" when they mean "arithmetic" Arithmetic is to maths as paintbrushes are to Turner sunsets.
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I don't leave comments on blogs that use Word Verification. Ditto blogs which I know have Comment Moderation applied. Life's too short and I'm too busy makin' money and what the Hell are these people scared of anyway? If you don't like some creep's comment . . TRY DELETING IT! You have that privilege.
And I never read unpunctuated so-called poetry. I don't understand why self-styled poets think it's clever to make their work difficult to read/understand.