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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did the explorer discover?

2. Notation makes more sense than?

3. What is the probability of 2 people being linked by 2 intermediates?

4. Paulos believes that most people fall where in their mathematical understanding?

5. What is one of the most misunderstood items according to Paulos?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which famous doctor does Paulos introduce first? What is the doctor's opinion?

2. What is Paulos' suggestion for making math more understandable to the general public?

3. How was the situation in the story handled? How did it involve probability?

4. What is the Archimedes Principle?

5. How does Paulos feel when people attempt to diagnose his personality by his astrological sign?

6. Who is the second famous doctor introduced by Paulos? Which topic was this doctor fascinated by?

7. Why does Paulos argue about the existence of coincidences?

8. Where does the author believe most people fit in?

9. How does Paulos compare misuse of language to the misuse of calculating probability?

10. What amusing example does Paulos use to illustrate the misunderstanding of numbers?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paulos tells a story of a man who is afraid of a bomb being aboard his airplane. Recount the story and the motive behind the man's actions. Does it make sense to you? According to Paulos' explanation, was it a logical or irrational move? What are the probabilities that the man was right? What are the odds that the bomb would go off in the man's briefcase? What might you have done in a similar situation?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the principles covered in chapter one. Outline and give examples of each. Which do you feel is the most important? Why?

Give at least three examples of the principle as it might apply to your daily life. How would you arrive at the answer? How could you determine if the answer was correct? Are there any other correlating principles that might help you to determine the answer?

Essay Topic 3

List at least three incorrect examples of grammar and three incorrect examples of math. Compare and contrast the problems. Which is more severe? Which is most likely to be noticed? Before reading this book would you have noticed either or both? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 610 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample