Reading Test Answer

Just to see how good you are at checking documents, see below for the cute trick of the day.

This is a very interesting test. There are no tricks but don't cheat.

Read this sentence once only to yourself:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS.

Now go back and count aloud how many F's are in that sentence. Count them only once: Do Not Go Back And Count Them Again.

Answer

There are six F's in the sentence. The average person finds three of them. If you spotted four, you've scanned the sentence above average. If you got five, you did particularly well, but why couldn't you see the last one? If you caught six, you have probaly done a test like this before. There is no catch. Many people forget the "OF"s.

Two suggestions for why this happens are:

• The human brain tends to see them as V's and not F's.
• Alternately when you scan the text your brain drops the "OF"s as being unimportant - which generally they are.

The text again, with highlighted 'F' characters is:

         Finished Files are the re-
         sult oF years oF scientiF-
         ic study combined with
         the experience oF years.