NY Test Asks Kids About Baffling 'Talking Pineapple'

No amount of studying could prepare students to assess the wisdom of a talking pineapple, but that's what New York kids were asked to do on a state test. The eighth-grade reading exam offered a fable-like story about a pineapple challenging a hare to a race. Other animals weigh in, and finally, the pineapple gets eaten. Eighth-graders were asked to pick the wisest character—then explain why the pineapple met its gruesome fate. Students' success on the test will be used, in part, to review staff performance, the New York Daily News reports.

"I thought it was a little strange, but I just answered it as best as I could," says a 14-year-old. A parent says she was horrified the question "should be used on a test that is going to be used to determine our kid’s future and the future of our children’s schools." The test recently underwent a $32 million overhaul courtesy of testing firm Pearson, and one principal says the question had "confused" children in several states in the past. Who's the wisest? "Pearson for getting paid $32 million for recycling this crap," the principal notes. Click through to read the inscrutable question in its entirety. (More pineapple stories.)