How's this for ambiguous?

[Harald]

(05-31-2018 11:29 PM)brickviking Wrote:  I thought I'd start a thread for all those times when people have great intentions but lousy explanations. This is for the problems that may seem to have one answer if you look at them one way, but actually may have multiple answers, or not have a well-defined answer at all. So, here's the first post:

Quote:(From GreenHill Publications "Maths Word Problems, (c) 2014)
Auntie Annie bought 9 loaves of bread. She gave Joe and Sandra 4 loaves of bread.
How many loaves of bread were left?

Yes, the obvious answer is 5. But what if Joe got 4 loaves of bread, and Sandra got 4 loaves of bread? The average K-2 student may or may not pick up on this as a difference.

(Post 236)

Yes, I HATE these things, too. How difficult can it be:

Quote:Auntie Annie bought 9 loaves of bread. She gave Joe and Sandra 4 loaves of bread each.
How many loaves of bread had she left?

And it is a whole lot better straight away. Not bullet proof, but better