Reality High Test Results, October 12-18: Better to Say Nothing than to Say Something Stupid

Welcome back to another week at Reality High! I still have to teach some students who don’t know much about strategy. So what else is new?

In any case, the remaining 16 contestants from Survivor: Cook Islands and seven teams from The Amazing Race 10 took their tests for the week, and returned them to me. Here’s what I got back.

I had to smile when I saw the answers from Adam, Brad, and Nate to the first question:

1. There are now three men and five women on your tribe. The women sent one guy home. How do you make certain that the women don’t think of sending another man home?

A. Go fishing, get crabs, and gather enough wood to let the women know they need you.
B. Lie around and do absolutely nothing.
C. Go psycho and pick fights with the women.

Adam, Brad, and Nate all answered “A,” and I was pleased to tell them that they were right. If you want to get others thinking that they still need you around in the early stages of Survivor, you have to work hard. You shouldn’t lie around and do absolutely nothing in the hopes that the others will realize you are needed, because you’ll be sent home. And picking fights with others is a sure-fire way to be sent home before your time.

Meanwhile, I found out from J.P. that he tried to shield Cristina from the others on Raro back before he was sent packing because her attitude irritated others. Maybe Cristina shouldn’t have gone along with the idea of dumping him, especially with her answer to the second question this week:

2. You wind up losing some of the octopus that was going to be cooked. What is the best thing to do?

A. Admit you goofed and apologize to the tribe.
B. Try to put the blame on somebody who was with you at the time.
C. Try to put the blame on somebody who wasn’t with you at the time.

Cristina answered “C,” and I groaned. She really should’ve just answered “A,” like Sally from Exile Island would’ve done if she’d taken the test. If you make a mistake, just admit what you did and apologize. The tribe will be more likely to keep you around if you don’t try to put the blame on somebody else. Unfortunately, Cristina tried to claim that she thought Jenny was beside her when she lost the octopus. With stuff like that, it’s no wonder that she was beginning to irritate the others from Raro.

I then looked at Sundra’s answer to the third question, and I sighed in relief:

3. There are two groups of people on your tribe. One has four members, the other has three. Which group do you join if you’re asked to do so?

A. The clearly-formed alliance of four. They have the numbers to keep you safe.
B. The so-called alliance of three. You can always go for a tiebreaker if you have to.
C. Neither. Instead you just float around and offer your services to both groups.

Sundra answered “A,” and I was delighted to tell her that she was right. If there are eight people on a tribe, then five is the majority. It’s best to be in the majority alliance if you have no other protection. So Sundra agreed to join Becky, Candice, Yul, and Jonathan. And since there are two dyads (groups of two people), she can ally herself with one and be the swing vote in that alliance.

Meanwhile, Cao Boi once again proved that when it comes to social skills, he just doesn’t get it. Witness his answer to the fourth question:

4. True or False: People like hearing you talk a lot about the meaning of Chinese symbols.

Of course, Cao Boi answered “True,” and I told him he was wrong. When he asked me if I liked hearing about it, I told him I did; but the question was if people liked hearing you talk about it a lot. Cao Boi doesn’t seem to get the fact that most people don’t like hearing you talk about something over and over. In fact, I have that problem in my real life with my parents. I have to remind myself that my parents don’t like all the stuff I’m interested in, like Shakespeare. Unfortunately, when I tried to tell Cao Boi that you shouldn’t talk about something over and over again; it just went in one ear and out the other, so I had to take an Excedrin.

But the biggest mistake belonged to Stephannie, as her answer to the fifth question on the test indicated:

5. True or False: People won’t think you want to go home if you say that part of you wants to have mashed potatoes and gravy tonight.

Stephannie answered “True,” and I just shook my head. Even if she was joking as she later suggested; it’s still not a wise thing to say – especially after you had called yourself the weakest link and offered yourself up as the sacrificial lamb the week before! Such comments have a way of sticking in people’s minds, as Nate proved when he told the others from Raro. This proved to be the end of Stephannie.

Last week Stephannie was on the chopping block but the women decided to get rid of J.P. instead. This time she gets on it again… and is sent packing. But why was Stephannie sent home? According to the Insider footage of the previous episode, she was sick, which certainly made her weak. Then she made two comments which caused people to doubt she wanted to stay around. They felt the weak link was getting weaker and let Stephannie go. It’s sad, but it could’ve been avoided if Stephannie had formed close-knit bonds that she could’ve turned into alliances.

Once I was done with the questions for the Cook Island contestants, I turned to the Amazing Race teams. I had to smile when I saw Erwin and Godwin’s answer to the sixth question:

6. True or False: It’s a good idea to share information with people who you are allied with.

Erwin & Godwin answered “True.” Correct! The brothers were allied with David & Mary and Lyn & Karlyn, and alliances are great for getting tickets on planes – as long as there aren’t too many teams in an alliance. It also helped Lyn and Karlyn, as both teams worked together throughout the leg. And it would’ve proved considerably more useful to David & Mary if all three teams had wound up at the same travel agency and gotten tickets on the same flights.

Unfortunately, Erwin & Godwin need to be more focused on the race than on making jokes if their answer to the seventh question is any indication:

7. True or False: Pretending to use a fake cell phone to call for a flight isn’t going to hurt you or your allies at all.

Erwin & Godwin answered “True” again, and this time they were wrong. The brothers protested that they were just having fun and messing with the minds of others, but I pointed out that sometimes games like that backfire on you. In The Amazing Race 7, Rob & Amber tried to make Meredith & Gretchen and Uchenna & Joyce think there was an earlier flight than the one they and Ron & Kelly got on. That backfired because Rob’s rivals then got an earlier flight! When I told Erwin & Godwin this, they looked rather sheepish. True, it didn’t hurt any of the three allied teams much this time, but it could have.

Meanwhile, I took a look at the answers of several of the teams for the eighth question:

8. You find out that there’s an earlier flight than the one you currently are on. What do you do?

A. Stick on the flight that you’re on until you get to your layover location, then try to get a better flight from the layover location.
B. Try to get on the earlier flight ASAP, even if you don’t have confirmed seats. C. Stick on the flight plan you’re on all the way to your next destination.

Dustin & Kandice and Peter & Sarah answered “A.” They were correct – at least in this situation. Teams couldn’t get tickets from the airline counter in Vietnam (though they could get them from a travel agency inside the airport,) so it’s generally best to stick with your flight till you get to a location where you can get an earlier flight at the airline counter.

David & Mary and Lyn & Karlyn answered “B,” and while they didn’t answer “C,” I had to tell them they weren’t right on this one. It was a huge risk to get on the earlier flight with Erwin &Godwin, as they found out. Although it worked for Lyn & Karlyn, it didn’t work for David & Mary. However, I can’t totally blame them for going for the earlier flight. Erwin & Godwin were their allies, and neither team wanted to be around Peter & Sarah – or at least Peter. The guy’s not very likeable. I wouldn’t want to be on a flight with him.

Unfortunately, David & Mary weren’t much better when it came to answering the ninth question: