'In New York, but Why a Tokyo Statue of Liberty?'... Absurd Error in September Mock Exam

Explaining New York with a photo of Tokyo's Statue of Liberty
Exam candidates' objections... Ministry of Education says "No error in the correct answer"

In a recent mock test for the College Scholastic Ability Test, a controversy arose when a photo of the Statue of Liberty in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan was used in place of the Statue of Liberty in New York, USA, in the world geography subject.

2024 College Scholastic Ability Test September Mock Exam Social Studies World Geography Question 3 [Photo by Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation]

According to the education sector on the 12th, students pointed out an error in question 3 of the world geography section of the social studies inquiry area in the September mock test for the 2024 College Scholastic Ability Test, which was held on the 6th.

The question asked students to guess the cities (A) and (B) based on longitude and latitude, photos of city landmarks, and descriptions, and then select the correct explanation related to them.

Based on the given longitude, latitude, and city landmark descriptions, it is clear that city (A) is New York, USA. However, the photo of the city landmark was not the Statue of Liberty in New York, but the Statue of Liberty in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan.

Students noticed the error in the photo upon seeing the Tokyo Rainbow Bridge behind the Statue of Liberty and raised the issue.

On entrance exam communities where students gathered, reactions such as "This is absurd" and "No matter how you scrape photos, how can such a mistake happen?" were expressed.

Statue of Liberty in Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan (above) / Statue of Liberty in New York, USA (below) [Photo by Interpark Tour]

However, a Ministry of Education official stated, "There is no error in the correct answer." They explained that the longitude, latitude, and city landmark descriptions in the prompt make it clear that city (A) is New York, and even if it were Tokyo, the correct answer would not change.

An official from the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation said, "We cannot respond as the objection review regarding the question's correct answer is currently underway."

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