ABSTRACT
When teachers, examiners or testers ask questions or pose problems for children to answer, there are always particular rules of interpretation which define the sort of answer which is appropriate, and these rules of interpretation (‘ground-rules’ as we will call them) are generally implicit rather than overtly stated. Let us examine some contrasting examples:
It takes three men six hours to dig a certain sized hole. How long would it take two men working at the same rate?
John runs faster than George. Nigel runs slower than George. Who is the fastest?
Who was the more successful king of England, George IV or George V?
