Posted on 09/14/2005 3:46:01 PM PDT by Samwise
Based on the following observations, identify the object whose properties are being described. This object is about 15 centimeters in length and its diameter is 1.5 centimeters. It has a cylindrical shape. The object has many shades of purple that combine to form a swirling pattern like a piece of marble. It smells like wood and sweaty hands. It has a smooth texture. When it is tapped on a desk, it makes a noise like a drum. What is it?
A purple marker? It's about that long and wide. I suppose a swirling pattern could be seen in the variation of the color applied on paper due to the fraying of the felt tip. Not sure about the smell. Hold on....I'll go check.
I will go with a plastic, handheld pencil sharpener. The wood smell is the shavings inside, the sweaty hands smell from it being gripped often while sharpening, the drum sound because it is hollow. The length is due to an area to catch and hold the shavings.
That was a lot of fun. Pretty cool link! Thanks!
There's a Bill Clinton joke in there somewhere.
My first guess was a pencil.
Will you please let me know what the answer is.
I promise.
So did you ever get the answer - or are you just playing "how do you keep a FReeper in suspense?
;-)
That teacher deserves a double slap. What the crap are tehy teaching kids, that you can make crap up.
If he was graded on this might I suggest you send him back Monday with a list of other items that could meet the specifications?
That's just not right. Purple? That's mean.
Nor necessarily cylindrical - once sharpened they have a point at one end! Odd puzzle - hope it wasn't for a grade!
That's ridiculous. Pencils also tend to be a little longer than 15 cm (only 6 inches). And 1.5 cm (more than half an inch) makes for one very wide pencil.
You know, for an exercise in feel-good "education," that teacher did an awful job of raising your daughter's self-esteem. And for there to be a "correct" answer on a question that relies mostly on one's imagination is also ludicrous. But then again, the liberal education establishment doesn't care what a student's answers are to mathematics problems.
Actually, on second thought, that sort of thing is entirely in line with liberal thinking. Liberals want people to be stupid, so that they can force their agenda on an unsuspecting public. But they do want people to think like them, i.e., agree with their subjective views of the world. So they really don't care if you can add, as long as you'll agree that something that is very unlikely to be a pencil (I have never seen a pencil as the one described in this exercise) actually is a pencil.
Or, perhaps I'm just thinking about this a bit too much.
The teacher is obviously a product of the public schools.
This part I'm going to nit pick:
When it is tapped on a desk, it makes a noise like a drum.
A pencil tapped on a desk sounds *nothing* like a drum. It sounds like a pencil tapping a desk. There are a variety of drums from all around the world. Each has a distinctive sound, but all have a resonance that desks can't produce. She and the rocket scientist author of that fine textbook need some music education.
I'm all harumphed-up on your behalf. ;P
"The teacher is obviously a product of the public schools."
Yep, a purple pencil and a pink eraser... how gay of him/her.
Good luck to you!
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