Story Archive

Trivial Pursuit

New Zealand high school students who took the National Certificates of Educational Achievement Level 3 History exam were instructed to write an essay on a quote from Julius Caesar: “In war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.” The problem: many students didn’t know the meaning of the word “trivial.” Students sent a petition to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority with over 2,000 signatures asking them to grade the essays based on each student’s understanding of the word — with one of the signers thinking the word meant “significant.” The NZQA said the word was expected to be in the vocabulary of students at that level, but if they addressed the quote and integrated their ideas, they would be given credit. One student, Scott, disagreed. He said it was a common word and the complainers were worried they would miss out on a high grade. He called their complaint — yep — “trivial.” (MS/New Zealand Herald) ...With luck, the students are beginning to understand the meaning of the word “fail.”