Information Retrieval: Checking Every Constraint in a Workshop Notice
Ms. Nakamura is checking a longer information-retrieval item. The notice is for 'Okayama Global Youth Day' at a community center and lists three workshops. Workshop A, 'Cooking Around the World,' is 10:00–11:30, costs 400 yen, has 20 places, and has an application deadline of October 10. Workshop B, 'English Debate Basics,' is 13:00–14:30, is free, has 16 places, and has a deadline of October 12. Workshop C, 'Storytelling in English,' is 15:00–16:30, costs 300 yen, has 12 places, and has a deadline of October 10. Mei is in the tennis club. Her Saturday practice ends at 14:00, and she must be home by 17:00. The community center is a 10-minute walk from her home. She has 350 yen, wants to practice speaking English rather than cooking, and can submit her application on October 11. The question asks, 'Which workshop can Mei join?' A candidate chooses B and writes, 'It is free and she wants to speak English.' Ms. Nakamura must decide whether the item has a valid answer and how to make the reasoning visible.
1. Does any workshop satisfy all of Mei's conditions? Check each option against time, cost, deadline, and content.
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No workshop satisfies all conditions.
- A: content is cooking, not speaking English; cost is 400 yen, over her 350-yen limit; deadline is October 10, before she can apply on October 11. Time is not the problem.
- B: content, cost, and deadline are all acceptable, but the time 13:00–14:30 conflicts with tennis practice, which ends at 14:00. She cannot be at the workshop at 13:00.
- C: content, time, and cost are acceptable, and a 16:30 finish plus a 10-minute walk gets her home by 16:40, before 17:00. However, the deadline is October 10, and she can only apply on October 11. The correct answer should therefore be 'none' if that option is offered. The candidate's choice of B checks only the two most obvious features-free and English-and misses the time conflict.
2. Why is B the most likely wrong answer, and what reading habit would prevent the error?
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B is the most likely wrong answer because it matches two strong goals in the prompt: it is free, and it is about speaking English. It also has the latest deadline, so a student who checks cost and deadline may feel that B is clearly suitable and stop reading. The hidden problem is the start time: 13:00 is before tennis practice ends at 14:00. A useful habit is to turn the prompt into a checklist-start time, end time, travel home, cost, deadline, and content-and mark every option against every item. Reject an option as soon as one condition fails; do not accept the first 'good enough' match.
3. If the test writer wanted exactly one correct answer, what single change would make B correct? Explain the constraints.
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Change B's time from 13:00–14:30 to a slot that starts after tennis practice ends and still allows Mei to be home by 17:00, for example 14:15–15:45. Then B satisfies content (English speaking), cost (free), deadline (October 12, so October 11 is fine), time (after 14:00), and the return-home condition (15:45 plus a 10-minute walk is 15:55). The wording 'single change' matters: changing the deadline for C to October 12 would also produce one correct answer, but the question asks specifically how to make B correct, so the time slot is the cleanest revision.