Hidden meaning in a sentence?

Good morning everyone,

I'm really glad to be a new member of this forum and here i'm in the learning English section to ask for your help about a sentence which I think its correction is wrong.

In my exercise, It's written :
" Anyone applying for the plumber's position will have to go through two interviews and all positions require three references . "

the question below is :

What is needed for the plumber's position?
a: experience
b: literacy
c: at least one interview
d: various recommendations

So unless there is a trap hidden somewhere, I think the answer is D " various recommendations" but the official correction is C: at least one interview...

Is there any hidden meaning? or are they wrong?

thank you for your help.

References are not the same as recommendations.
I may or may not call your references.
A recommendation you get in advance.

Two interviews are specified. That's more than one so it's "at least one."

I don't like c) as an answer, because they will definitely have to go through more than one. The wording is not very good because there is no option to get the job with a single interview- it's two, not one or more. I am not convinced by d) as a reference is not a the same as a recommendation. There's a problem with the wording of c) that makes this not a very good question. However, I would have chosen c) as the least worst option.

Mind that I am a Non-Nest (non-native English-speaking teacher)

To me a) seems the best choice, because having references implies having experience. If you have done even two interviews but don't have references (=experience), then you won't be chosen for the job. It's not what the person needs to do (interviews) to get the job, it's what he/she already has (experience) that matters. :-?

Where is the exercise from, Cubik?

englishhobby said:

Mind that I am a Non-Nest (non-native English-speaking teacher)

To me a) seems the best choice, because having references implies having experience. If you have done even two interviews but don't have references (=experience), then you won't be chosen for the job. It's not what the person needs to do (interviews) to get the job, it's what he/she already has (experience) that matters. :-?

Click to expand...

There's no evidence that experience is required. The references might be from teachers, and the 'plumber' just out of school, ie. it's an apprenticeship position. To you and me, experience might matter, but the answer has to be based on the question.
And references (!= experience) - they could be character references.

I think it is a trick question, assessing whether you know that two interviews is "at least one interview". That may be a test of logic as well as of language. If it had simply said "one interview", even that would also be technically correct, I'd call that unfair. But C is obviously required, and then the rest easily ruled out, leaving C. That's how I read it.

Where is the exercise from, Cubik?

Click to expand...

Well, It is from a Toeic training book from a publishing house called "Nathan"


Thank you very much for your answers !


I didn't explain clearly why I'd rather choose the answer D) but I will do now.
According to an US translation took from "wordreference", A "reference" can mean "a person giving a recommendation" but it means also :" a letter of recommendation".


In the question they say :" various recommendations" which, for me, means more than two letters of reference or two letters from people known as "reference" but in both cases it sounds logic ... According to the online dictionnary of course.


The question is: "Is this dictionnary actually right?"


Now, Why I don't like C), it's because they mention clearly that we must go through two interviews for the plumber's position therefore the word " at least " for me is quite "inappropriate " because it makes you think of doing one interview can be enough for the plumber's position.
As for the Answer A, it seems not really relevant to me because "experience" doesn't imply necessarily that many people will recommend you for the job ( especially if there are only two workers)


But anyway I agree that it's really a trick question :lol:.
(Ps: Of course I have much to learn and I just gave my opinion in order to show my reasoning but since I'm not a native and quite far from his level, I rely on you guys ^^)

Generally, the major exams go through extensive testing, which irons out these errors, but sometimes books that practise tests don't and you'll find the odd question that's a bit sloppy.