My Ishmael (Ishmael 3) - Page 38

“That’s right. In civics.”

“Do you actually know how a bill passes Congress?”

“I haven’t a clue, Ishmael.”

“Were you tested on it?”

“I’m sure I was.”

“Did you pass?”

“Of course. I never fail tests.”

“So you supposedly ‘learned’ how a bill passes Congress, passed a test on the subject, and promptly forgot all about it.” “That’s right.”

“Can you divide one fractional number by another?”

“I think so, yeah.”

“Give me an example.”

“Well, let’s see. You’ve got half a pie and you want to divide it into thirds. Each piece will be a sixth.”

“That’s an example of multiplication, Julie. One-half times one-third equals one-sixth.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“You studied division of fractional numbers in the fourth grade, probably.”

“I remember it vaguely.”

“Try again to see if you can think of an example in which you would divide one fractional number by another.”

I gave it a shot and had to admit it was beyond me.

“If you divide half a pie by three, you get a sixth of a pie. That’s clear enough. If you divide half a pie by two, you get a fourth of a pie. If you divide half a pie by one, what do you get?”

I stared at him blankly.

“If you divide half a pie by one, you get half a pie, of course. Any number divided by one is that number.”

“Right.”

“So what do you get if you divide half a pie by a half?”

“Oh wow. One whole pie?”

“Of course. And what do you get if you divide half a pie by a third?”

“Three halves. I think. One and a half pies.”

“That’s right. In the fourth grade, you spent weeks trying to master this concept, but of course it’s far too abstract for fourth graders. But presumably you passed the test.”

“I’m sure I did.”

“So you learned as much as you needed to pass the test, then promptly forgot all about it. Do you know why you forgot about it?”

“I forgot about it because, who cares?”

Tags: Daniel Quinn Ishmael Classics
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