Reacting to RIDICULOUS Cambridge exam questions

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

This haircut makes me cringe

[@aryan_be_studying]

lol

[@jojomooc]

“Age is only a number” has got me thinking of a whole balanced argument lol

[@simrannahar8262]

Omg the cardboard youtube plate at the back😭🤣

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

my friends made it lol

[@butterbeer4582]

These are so interesting though! These are just disguised epistemology questions, it tests more if you have the capacity to think outside the box and see all possible sides of a debate. Also a test of knowledge to back up arguments. For "nice guys finish last", I would have talked about evolution and contrasted the two historical strategies of survival of the strongest vs lying low and preserving energy plus how the notion of sacrifice even exists in primitive structures like amoebas (differenciation and death of certain cells to permit survival of others in stressful conditions, etc)... Solitary vs gregarious species, etc...

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

and also sperm competition in polygamous males is relevant

[@bogdancristea9270]

I’m not a biologist, but I went to Cambridge as well (spent 8 years there) and I can definitely see where they’re coming from. Obviously, they’re not interested in your rhetorical skills (though it wouldn’t hurt to have some) or in your capacity to b...it a question (not that I didn’t try sometimes), but rather in how you can use your knowledge to construct an argument. You have to read beyond what seems a ridiculous question at first sight, you have to be able to see a problem from unusual perspectives. That’s what Cambridge is about.

[@butterbeer4582]

Damn honestly these are cursed but way more interesting than stupidly hard medicine multiple choice questions where one word makes the whole thing wrong 😭 these are perfect open ended questions for "bullshitters" like me, I would just ramble on and on, it depends what they're looking for though.

[@lxsa.]

this has me terrified for a future cambridge interview but it was so interesting to watch at the same time LOL

[@butterbeer4582]

"Age is just a number" : chronological vs biological age, life quality years, etc certain cultures count from conception (1 at birth). Also brings the question of when life starts and thus when is an embryo/foetus considered "alive". Can talk about life expectancy of different animals i.e. "dog years" etc which correlate to their resting heart rate for most species and the size of the animal, but then there are exceptions like tortoises that have an extremely slow heart rate, etc. Concepts of cell aging vs whole organism -> cancer, other pathologies

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

good points :)

[@rupertwalker2753]

This is random but recently I read that a correlation has been noticed between the rate at which organisms of different species accrue genetic mutations (through subatomic charged particles etc) and the average life expectancy of that species, and it‘s a better marker of life expectancy than the heart rate theory. They also found that an organism tends to die once it has accrued ~3200 genetic mutations. I think I read this in the news around a week ago as opposed to an academic journal but it’s still interesting if accurate.

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

I think that's Peto's paradox you're talking about

[@rupertwalker2753]

@@IlyasCambridgeAdvice quite possibly.. I can’t find my source anymore. Besides, I’m a theologian not a biologist so this really isn’t my field :)

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

Subscribe or you'll get these questions in your exams

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

The cours is quite broad and some questions are just very open ended

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

I'm still at uni lol

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

Yeah I've only got the masters offer

[@AllanLovezGaming]

This is what I feel when I do the OCR Further Maths exam board 😱😭

[@edmund184]

When I did English A- Level the stupidest Shakespeare essay I read was from Cambridge (1976). Anthony and Cleopatra (one of Shakespeare's darkest plays was called a comedy) and Wagner and Scandinavian music was brought into the argument.

[@sneakyrock1637]

the "Age is just a number" is cursed lol

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

This whole exam is cursed

[@SailingwithSharvani]

'nice guys finish last' just got me dedddd, brb after reconsidering taking Zoology in my later years 🤠

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

It's great you should do it

[@yanshiwu887]

as a politics and philosophy student I find your biology exam questions particularly familiar 😹

[@elizabethwatts9754]

Can I add one from 1992: 'What, if anything, is a fish'. I picked that one...

[@d.1ghosh]

I imagine nice guys finish last is in opposition to 'nice guys finish first' from 'The Selfish gene"

[@MayYean]

So glad I didn’t sit those exams in 2005 😅

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

Lol I'd prefer that over Corona tbh

[@elizabethwatts9754]

We shere half our ALLELES with siblings, not half out genes. We share ALL our genes with every human being. That's on the GCSE syllabus!

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

ngl GCSEs

[@gongjerry3572]

Loved the question about selfish genes.

[@ebusanta001]

Is it even about arguments? I think it's about rhetoric, as in the art of saying things. If you are eloquent enough, you pass. IMO, I find this kind of exam stupid.

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

It's more than rhetoric. You can't get away with no knowledge or else your essays will have no substance. They're testing your knowledge but also your ability to write and essay and make an argument

[@nameothername6939]

physics is better than biology. Discuss

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

Don't lie like that

[@Tacholoco]

No, it is No reason to disuss

[@nafisa6034]

Hes defo trolling lmao

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

im acc not lol

[@jackywacky7322]

Ilya I am your well wisher and I am telling you, get a haircut mate!

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

I know I know, I tried to get one this week but they were all booked because they just opened

[@kdg918]

Hello

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

yes

[@polyfoamcoats1650]

Is this real or are you trolling, Ilya?

[@IlyasCambridgeAdvice]

This is all real