Is there really no such thing as a stupid question!?

Discussion in 'A+' started by superal, Feb 14, 2007.

  1. superal

    superal Bit Poster

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    Hi guys,

    Just been doing a few A+ 2006 practice exams and I am a little bit peeved on one particular section, namely Communication and Professionalism. The questions for this topic have to be by far the most improper Ive ever come accross.
    Now, I am by no means saying that Communication and Professionalism isnt important! On the contrary it is probably the most important trait in any organization, how to conduct yourself amongst others.

    My gripe is the fact that there are questions on this section which are influenced by too many factors to be able to correctly know for a fact which is the correct answer! The way that some of the questions are written are rubbish and would result in someone making a guess which is 50/50 at best!

    In at least 2 questions no account was given of the size of the company, your relationship with fellow colleagues, cultural differences, or the atmosphere and environment of a particular situation.

    Hence, in most cases there is more than one acceptable answer and therefore you can not get the question wrong!?

    I have already consigned myself to losing up to 5 questions in the exam.

    Let me know what you guys think. Also those who have taken the 2006 exam could you let me know how the questions are presented?

    Cheers.

    Sorry for the Epic post.
     
    Certifications: None in IT
    WIP: MCSE possibly maybe!?
  2. Cockles

    Cockles Megabyte Poster

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    Hi mate.

    Do you have any rough examples of a question they might have asked? I'm studying 2003 A+ at the minute but am quite intruiged by this.

    Ta
     
    Certifications: None
    WIP: Trying to find my car keys
  3. BosonMichael
    Honorary Member Highly Decorated Member Award 500 Likes Award

    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    Consigning yourself to missing a few of those questions is wise. CompTIA puts in these questions that test on what they state is the "correct way" to do things. That said, you should be able to answer enough right that it shouldn't affect your passing score.

    The CompTIA A+ objective PDF will list what percentage of the exam is covered by each section. Download it and see how many questions you should expect to see in this section.
     
    Certifications: CISSP, MCSE+I, MCSE: Security, MCSE: Messaging, MCDST, MCDBA, MCTS, OCP, CCNP, CCDP, CCNA Security, CCNA Voice, CNE, SCSA, Security+, Linux+, Server+, Network+, A+
    WIP: Just about everything!
  4. Malnomates

    Malnomates Megabyte Poster

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    I must admit that the 'what would you say if...' scenarios that I had on my A+ were ambiguous at best, however the responses do merit some logic and the correct response is usually easy to spot. I will say though (and I've said this more than once) that the questions are nothing more than subjective evaluation by the author of the question and getting the correct response requires the person reading it to have a similar train of thought...not ruddy likely in most cases I'd argue!
     
    Certifications: A+ Network+
  5. superal

    superal Bit Poster

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    Thanks for the replies!

    Wont put any examples up but if you have done any mock tests from a certain highly rated author you'll know what I mean.

    Granted there is usually a very obvious answer to these types of questions, but, more often than not they are indeed 'ambiguous at best'!

    What I was mainly getting at was that you would react differently in certain environments which can't possibly be brought accross in any question, no matter how well its put. Also I have noticed that most questions will have 2 answers which are more than acceptable in most situations.

    However the questions still need to be answered so take an educated guess!?

    Cheers
     
    Certifications: None in IT
    WIP: MCSE possibly maybe!?
  6. Wassup

    Wassup Byte Poster

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    hi superal, I totally hear what you're saying on those Professionalism and Communication questions. Some of the answers are quite obvious whilst others really are bizarre to say the least.
    I just did the A+ 2006 and there were only a couple of them on the Essentials part and I actually got the same two on the IT Tech exam and a couple extra ones, which were, I have to say, fairly straight forward. So all up , maybe there were 6 or 7 questions.

    As a side, in the practice tests I did a few of the questions were actually worded so badly, that I had to wonder if they had been translated through babelfish from ancient sanskrit into english as they made no sense whatsoever.

    I'm sure you'll be fine and an educated guess is better than no guess at all , eh?

    Good luck with the exams
    :)
     
  7. superal

    superal Bit Poster

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    Thanks for that useful information Wassup!

    Its good to hear that what is in the practice tests also translates to what we can expect from the real thing.

    Indeed the questions in the practice exams are worded badly and not just those within the Communication and Professional section but this seems to spread to other areas too!

    In any case, I think that if the practice exams are phrased in this fashion then its hopefully safe to assume that this wont be as bad in the real thing!

    Cheers for that guys.

    Case closed, I'll let you know how I get on.... I start my first IT job on Monday so hopefully I still get time to get my study hours in!

    Hectic.
     
    Certifications: None in IT
    WIP: MCSE possibly maybe!?

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