PrepTest 136 · Section 2 · Question 9

The Biscuit Code

Tommy wanted to prank Marcus. "Biscuit barks in a secret code," he whispered. "Two barks means one thing, three barks means another." Marcus grabbed his detective notebook. Here is the truth: Biscuit barks whenever a leaf blows past. Totally random. But Marcus sat by the window all afternoon. Bark, bark. Bark, bark, bark. He scribbled and frowned and crossed things out. By dinner he had a full message: "The mail carrier hides treats under the porch on Fridays." He read it out loud, proud as a peacock. It even made sense! Lulu looked up from her clipboard. "Biscuit didn't send that," she said. "You did. You were so sure there was a message that you built one." Priya sipped her juice box. "That's the real lesson. Expect a pattern, and your brain will happily make one."

Marcus was told that a dog's barks carry a hidden code. In fact the barks were random. Still, after listening for an afternoon, Marcus wrote down a sensible, detailed message.

What general idea does the story above illustrate most closely?

The Case of the Talking Teapot

Judge Penny Alvarez peered over her glasses. "Mr. Whitfield, your witness says the teapot whistle spelled out a confession?" Mr. Whitfield snapped his suspenders. "No, Your Honor. That's the other side's witness. And here is my point." He held up a chart. "The teapot whistles whenever the water boils. Pure physics. No message. But their witness was told a confession was hidden in the whistles, so he listened for hours and wrote one down. A neat, sensible one!" The judge nodded slowly. "So the order came from the listener, not the teapot." "Exactly. When you're sure a pattern exists, you can end up building it yourself." The gallery laughed. The teapot whistled. Nobody wrote it down.