Boys and Girls

I like to give hard problems. For example, today I asked the Year 11s to calculate the logarithm, base 27, of 6561, without a calculator.

"How are we supposed to do that without a calculator?" they asked.

I gave them a hint: "it's easy!"

Then Mr. Ross walked in. "Mr. Ross," I asked, "what is the logarithm, base 27, of 6561?"

He turned pink.

Then Mr. Barry walked in. "It's simple!" I screamed. "Mr. Barry, what is the logarithm, base 27, of 6561?"

"Four!" he shouted. WRONG!

"Three!" WRONG!

"You said it was simple," Mr. Barry observed, "so I figured the answer is simple."

Once Mr. Barry started, the boys started shouting out all sorts of silly answers: "SIX! TWO! FIVE! ELEVEN! EIGHT!"

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!

The answer is 8/3.

Some people think these problems are too hard, but if there is at least one person in the class who can do it, I don't think so. Later I checked their answers and Erin, Ji-Young and Natsumi all had the right answer.

That's the difference between boys and girls. Boys love to shout out the answers, even though their answers are wrong. Girls prefer to keep quiet, even though their answers are correct.