I'm not sure this is very good test. I'm sure they would have gotten the exact same results had they used a sentence of:
"I picked up a bad case of GFRM, and had to go see a doctor..."
where GFRM is simply an unrecognized term. At this point the question is what is the cognitive strategy for inferring the most likely meaning of GFRM. Deciding it was some sort of disease is natural as A) No one is expected to know all the diseases and B) a doctor was mentioned.
If the two options given for the above were STD or hot sauce, even I would have chosen STD.
So, maybe all it tests for is knowledge of Italian cooking? In that case, yes, I find that 2/3rds not getting it correct is bad, but we all know that Englang is cuisine impaired anyway.
no subject
"I picked up a bad case of GFRM, and had to go see a doctor..."
where GFRM is simply an unrecognized term. At this point the question is what is the cognitive strategy for inferring the most likely meaning of GFRM. Deciding it was some sort of disease is natural as A) No one is expected to know all the diseases and B) a doctor was mentioned.
If the two options given for the above were STD or hot sauce, even I would have chosen STD.
So, maybe all it tests for is knowledge of Italian cooking? In that case, yes, I find that 2/3rds not getting it correct is bad, but we all know that Englang is cuisine impaired anyway.