Speed Kills? Think again!!
Discussion
justinp1 said:
Very succinct.
I read a true story that the three hour, final paper for a Cambridge philosophy degree was based on a single question:
Why?
One person got a first that year. His answer was:
Why not!?
that reminds me of a similiar story I heard, final exam for a philosophy degree somewhere:
only one question for the exam: "what is courage?"
one person got 100% with the answer: "this is"
Two stories that spring to mind are the one about the Cambridge student who noticed that the rules state that the University will provide stabling for your horse during an exam and duly turned up on a nag.
The other is the Oxford student that realised that the rules say that each student is entitled to a pint of beer and a pie during an exam. The story goes that the invigilator went along with this, but that he was failed for not wearing his sword.
The other is the Oxford student that realised that the rules say that each student is entitled to a pint of beer and a pie during an exam. The story goes that the invigilator went along with this, but that he was failed for not wearing his sword.
V8 Archie said:
Two stories that spring to mind are the one about the Cambridge student who noticed that the rules state that the University will provide stabling for your horse during an exam and duly turned up on a nag.
The other is the Oxford student that realised that the rules say that each student is entitled to a pint of beer and a pie during an exam. The story goes that the invigilator went along with this, but that he was failed for not wearing his sword.
At Cambridge it is still constitutional (at least at the college my friend was at) that he was entitled to request a pint of ale during an exam!
Hmmm - am very sceptical of these Cambridge exam tales, although we were assured that everyone got a first if someone died during the exam. The girl next to me burst into tears when she turned over the paper, and I thought we had a volunteer, but it was not to be.
It made me feel a lot better about how hard the questions were (once she had been led blubbing from the room).
It made me feel a lot better about how hard the questions were (once she had been led blubbing from the room).
7db said:
Hmmm - am very sceptical of these Cambridge exam tales, although we were assured that everyone got a first if someone died during the exam. The girl next to me burst into tears when she turned over the paper, and I thought we had a volunteer, but it was not to be.
It made me feel a lot better about how hard the questions were (once she had been led blubbing from the room).
Same thing happened in one of my 2nd year papers. Papers turned over, then suddenly a girl at the back turns the water works on. I struggled valiantly to contain laughter on that occasion.
The paper was actually quite easy.
7db said:
Hmmm - am very sceptical of these Cambridge exam tales,
Rightly so...
www.snopes.com/college/exam/oneword.asp
I used to work at the University Press in Oxford, where stories like these used to do the rounds. My favourite was about one of the people who worked at OUP, a chap called Leofranc Holford-Strevens. To say Leofranc was bright is a bit like saying Ken Livingstone hates cars. The story went that, during his Greats finals, he was asked to translate a page of Xenophon. He did. Problem was, the exam rubric didn’t state the language into which he should translate it. Of course, being Leofranc, he translated it into an obscure middle European language for a bit of a laugh. Let’s call it Serbo-Croat. Leofranc hands his paper in and presumably wanders off to the pub for a bit of light refreshment.
The examiners get the paper, and soon the memos are flying – who is going to mark Leofranc’s paper? Which college in the august university of Oxford has someone with both ancient Greek and Serbo-Croat? Despite this being Oxford, there are absolutely no takers. Then some bright spark suggests getting in touch with the relevant embassy in London. A letter is duly dispatched.
The reply goes a bit like this…
“Yes, we have someone who occasionally translates ancient Greek texts into Serbo-Croat for us. Surprised you don’t know him – he’s up at Oxford. Name of Holford-Strevens”.
He got a first.
The examiners get the paper, and soon the memos are flying – who is going to mark Leofranc’s paper? Which college in the august university of Oxford has someone with both ancient Greek and Serbo-Croat? Despite this being Oxford, there are absolutely no takers. Then some bright spark suggests getting in touch with the relevant embassy in London. A letter is duly dispatched.
The reply goes a bit like this…
“Yes, we have someone who occasionally translates ancient Greek texts into Serbo-Croat for us. Surprised you don’t know him – he’s up at Oxford. Name of Holford-Strevens”.
He got a first.
_VTEC_ said:And there was the story of the despairing student who stuck two pencils up his or her nose and smashed his or her head down to the desk pushing the pencils into the brain. I didn't believe it back then, although I did enjoy myslef in one exam in the Old Schools looking around wondering who would be the most likely candidate.
Hmmm - am very sceptical of these Cambridge exam tales, although we were assured that everyone got a first if someone died during the exam. The girl next to me burst into tears when she turned over the paper, and I thought we had a volunteer, but it was not to be.
It made me feel a lot better about how hard the questions were (once she had been led blubbing from the room).
Same thing happened in one of my 2nd year papers. Papers turned over, then suddenly a girl at the back turns the water works on. I struggled valiantly to contain laughter on that occasion.
The paper was actually quite easy.
GravelBen said:
that reminds me of a similiar story I heard, final exam for a philosophy degree somewhere:
only one question for the exam: "what is courage?"
one person got 100% with the answer: "this is"
Doesn't quite make sense that way.
The story is that during oral examination, students were asked "what is courage?".
One student replied "this is" and stood up and left the exam room.
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