the meaning of the new terms. A teacher asked a class in elementary
physiology, "What measures would you take to resuscitate a person
asphyxiated with carbon dioxide?" The class all looked blank. No one
seemed to know what to do. It chanced that the superintendent was
visiting the school, and he said to the teacher, "Let me try." Then he
asked the class, "What would you do for a person who had been
smothered by breathing coal gas?" The class brightened up, and every
hand was raised indicating readiness to answer the question.

Another teacher bewildered his class by asking, "Which phenomena of
the fratricidal strife in the American Republic were most
determinative of the ultimate fate of the nation?" No one knew. Had he
asked his question in plain terms, no doubt the class could have
answered it.

In an elementary history class, a teacher propounded this question:
"What American institutions have been founded on the principle of
social democracy?" Not only the terms of the question, but the thought
also is beyond the comprehension of children. Such questions are not
only useless as a means of testing, teaching, or drilling, but serve
to confuse and discourage the child, and cause him to lose interest in
school.

_c. Brevity._--No matter how well a question is worded, or how well it
is adapted to the age and capacity of the pupil, it may fail in
clearness because it is too long and disjointed, or because it deals
with too many points. Far better break a complicated question up into
several simple ones, concerning whose meaning there can be no doubt.

A teacher who had not yet mastered the art of questioning asked his