Comment by crackercrews | Hacker News Reader

Comment by crackercrews | Hacker News Reader

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A prominent researcher noted that the following question was tested by the ETS but never made it onto the SAT:

The actor's bearing on stage seemed ______; her movements were natural and her technique _____

A. unremitting...blasé B. fluid...tentative C. unstudied...contrived D. eclectic...uniform E. grandiose...controlled

Apparently 8% more black students answered this question correctly than white students, and it was never moved from a potential question into the real test. The allegation is that the racial outcome of the question is the cause of its never making it onto the SAT.

I think it never made it because the question is bad. None of the answers makes much sense (the correct answer is apparently C).

1: http://www.jayrosner.com/publication-onwhitepreferences.html

That made no sense so I followed your link and found that C is uncontrived not contrived, which then makes perfect sense.

Every option has either 2 words that make no sense, or one word that makes no sense with "her movements were natural" and one that does. Only option C has two words which make sense with both. This question is just basic English comprehension and should be on every exam.

Sorry, I had seen this elsewhere and it was incorrectly transcribed. You are correct that the linked page shows "uncontrived" for C. That makes the question less bad though still a bit stilted.

To be clear, the thesis of the article you quoted from is the following:

Every single question carefully preselected to appear on the test favors whites over blacks.

As a non-American, this thesis simply doesn't pass the smell test unless you guys are living in literal KKK land, which - from be outside - doesn't seem to be the case.

Why not read the research? A 'smell test', especially by someone with no experience or expertise, doesn't indicate much.

Any claim of racism - even raised by an expert who has done detailed research, in a society with overwhelming evidence of it historically and now, and in higher education admissions in particular - is always dismissed.

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