Want to Feel Really Dumb? Take this Standardized Test | Think Tank | Big Think | Eclectic Technology | Scoop.it
From bigthink.com - April 21, 2012 5:31 PM

There are times when we question who creates the materials for standarized tests...and this is one of them. How about a test that takes a famous Aesop fable, The Tortoise and the Hare' and chooses to substitute a pineapple for the hare?" Would this be an improvement?  "Next, the story was used in a standardized reading comprehension test for eighth grade students. The last, and worst part: the test writers came up with a series of 6 comprehension questions, two of which are completely baffling."

This post has the entire story from the exam as well as the two questions. 

It also turns out that Daniel Pinkwater (children's author) wrote the original story as a fractured "fractured fable" but that fable had an eggplant, not a pineapple. You can read Pinkwater's  interview about this issue at this link: 

http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/04/20/daniel-pinkwater-on-pineapple-exam-nonsense-on-top-of-nonsense/ ;