pure; simple; prime? (test question)

[n4cd]

Hello everyone .

Here's a test question:

"This is a ... example of what not to do."

a) pure b) simple c) prime

All three work for me. How about you?

Any comments are appreciated.

[5jj]

Here's a test question:

"This is a ... example of what not to do."

a) pure b) simple c) prime

All three work for me. How about you?

'pure' does not work for me, but 'simple' is fine. It's a prime example of a bad test question - the writer has one fixed phrase in mind, and ignores other possible collocations.

[Raymott]

Hello everyone .

Here's a test question:

"This is a ... example of what not to do."

a) pure b) simple c) prime

All three work for me. How about you?

Any comments are appreciated.

c. is most common. b. works. a. doesn't work.
Therefore, the answer is c.

[Verona_82]

My collocations dictionary gives 'simpe' and 'prime' as possible collocations. How do I know which is more common if, say, I have no-one to address the question? Why should we, learners, guess what the compiler had in mind? The question's rhetorical.

Sorry.

[Raymott]

My collocations dictionary gives 'simpe' and 'prime' as possible collocations. How do I know which is more common if, say, I have no-one to address the question? Why should we, learners, guess what the compiler had in mind? The question's rhetorical.

Sorry.

I'm not sure what you mean. If you want to say that an example is simple, use 'simple', if prime, use 'prime'.
Collocations are useless for that. You might get an equal number of hits for "good dog" as for "bad dog", but you must use the phrase you need.

Sorry for an answering a rhetorical question. I think your complaint should be against the setters of these types of questions.

[Verona_82]

I think your complaint should be against the setters of these types of questions.

It is indeed. What if they are browsing the forum?

[Raymott]

It is indeed. What if they are browsing the forum?

I'll take that for another rhetorical question, and leave it that way.