If the money's there to do it, I'd go for new every time in that situation.

Oh dear.  Run better next time...

[OFFICIAL COMPLAINT.]

OFFICIAL COMPLAINT.

The Accused is top left, back row, as viewed.
 
You shall be taken to the place from whence you came, and from there be taken to a place of execution. You shall be hung by the neck until the body be dead... dead... DEAD.
 

Offence - Not wearing a hat.

Click to see full-size image.

He's got a hat on.  Granted, it's tight fitting and matches his hair colour, so we'll let you off this time...but it's there.

Don't sign up for Jury Duty any time soon. 

Always on the lookout for a good bet and my wife is absolutely adamant that Charlie is going, so I look on oddschecker and see her at 15/8 with Sophie as fav, talk to the wife who by all accounts has watched this all the way through, says that Sophie is as dull as dish water but Charlie is def not liked and hasn't had a great week,  so I check a bit further and see at least 5 polls have Sophie as fav to go, talk to the wife again and she is still adamant. So before I lump on at 15/8 what do u guys in the know think?

Go with the polls.  They rarely get it wrong.  However, if by some very rare chance they do get it wrong and your wife gets it right...

Good luck either way. 

How old are eighth graders Laxie?

They're 13 - 14 years old.  Next stop after 8th grade is called High School. 

I mean lots of qns just wouldn't be worded that way and we don't know if the kids got any questions right. Also, the questions aren't what we are taught in modern English schools making the whole exercise rather futile.

I've studied education and seen a lot of exam papers, what you say is definitely the defining feature of almost every occasion when people try and make one set look stupid compared to another. When you're taught with those exams in mind it narrows down the gap to almost nothing almost all of the time.

I'd say in terms of intellectual rigour overall this is probably equivalent to GCSE, and as it was aimed at pupils slightly younger than that it might be fair to say it's a 'a bit' harder than what we might see now, but not by much and you'd have a lot more quantity at GCSE level so it could even be argued that it's roughly equivalent.

I don't know about the current US system, they might have a fair point where that's concerned

The current system is an absolute joke and has been for years.  Pity because intelligent kids get lost in the net as much as kids who need help. 

[See bets in TfT for example.]

I like the idea of a board solely because I worry that items can get lost in one big thread.

See bets in TfT for example.

Prime example of how leaving this as one long thread will really defeat the purpose of being beneficial.

So they went from that, to this...

FYP

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/12/1912-eighth-grade-exam_n_3744163.html

I've not read through the whole exam yet, but apparently people in 2013 are having difficulty coming up with the answers...

Click to see full-size image.

We're not all bad.  Autistic man needs a bit of help...

Ahhhhh....brilliant!  Just been proper laughing out loud here.  Many thanks for the tales and the giggles. 

Surely it'll all kick off now the posse has landed.

I don't believe those bucks have targets on their arses. Is that evolution's idea of a joke?

  

That duck's a bit smug.  

Can't believe they had a go at the elephant.  They must be starving...or crazy.