Do I stink, or is this a program error?

[Carrie12345]

I decided to pick up a couple of CLEP books for myself, as I'm considering taking a cc class this summer.  Why not bank some other credits for a 3 or 4 year associates if I can?

 

I took the REA diagnostic test for College Comp, and one of my wrong answers is bugging the heck out of me.

 

(6) And in achieving this higher level of thought, Frankl found that humans find the courage "to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. (7) No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. (8) His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden."

 

I know my wrong answer is wrong (there was no "none" option) but they're insisting the correct answer is that sentence 8 is in the present tense while the rest of the passage is written in the past tense.  BUT IT'S PART OF A QUOTE!  A quote that is in the present tense.

 

I would really like to know if they are wrong or if I'm missing something because, if I'm missing something, I have a major brain gap somewhere and I'd like to fix it!

[EKS]

I think that this is an item that would never make it onto an actual exam. Test prep materials are filled with such items because they don't do the rigorous testing that actual test makers do.

 

To answer your question, and this is just my opinion, I'd say that you're both right. You are right in that if it is a quotation, it needs to be exact. They are right in that it is better form to structure your sentence so that the quotation agrees with it in all ways (person, number, verb tense, and so forth). Actually, IMO, the biggest problem with this quotation is that it disagrees in number with "humans" and the tense is less of an issue (or maybe even a nonissue). This is what I would change to make it better:

 

(6) And in achieving this higher level of thought, Frankl noted that each human must find the courage "to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. (7) No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. (8) His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden."

 

I changed "found" to "noted" to get rid of the "Frankl found"/"humans find" awkwardness. Frankl is doing the noting in the past and each human (singular) must find (present tense) that he (singular) is (present), and so forth.

Edited April 28, 2016 by EKS

[saja1029]

I decided to pick up a couple of CLEP books for myself, as I'm considering taking a cc class this summer.  Why not bank some other credits for a 3 or 4 year associates if I can?

 

I took the REA diagnostic test for College Comp, and one of my wrong answers is bugging the heck out of me.

 

(6) And in achieving this higher level of thought, Frankl found that humans find the courage "to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. (7) No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. (8) His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden."

 

I know my wrong answer is wrong (there was no "none" option) but they're insisting the correct answer is that sentence 8 is in the present tense while the rest of the passage is written in the past tense.  BUT IT'S PART OF A QUOTE!  A quote that is in the present tense.

 

I would really like to know if they are wrong or if I'm missing something because, if I'm missing something, I have a major brain gap somewhere and I'd like to fix it!

 

 

Yes, you do. It's your birthday ;)

 

Sheri

[Carrie12345]

Yes, you do. It's your birthday ;)

 

Sheri

 

:lol: