In response to your sample of questions from the 1990 Scholastic Aptitude Test (Aug. 27), I wish to point out that the answer given to the second mathematics problem, t-625, is not the only correct answer. By finding the sum of the first 50 integers, namely 1275, one gets the equally valid answer s
1275-t, which was not listed.
This is not the first time SAT has omitted a valid solution as a possible answer. No wonder students are getting confused when they solve a problem correctly but don`t find their solution among the listed answers.
This is one more reason why multiple choice questions should be barred from mathematics tests. Mathematics should aim at enhancing one`s
understanding of relations among variables. By telling our students, from a very young age, to always select the right answer from several given choices, we are in effect telling them to guess rather than to think. This defies the whole purpose of teaching math.
