Enem 2022: Question has no right answer and can be canceled

After tests or competitions, it is natural for teachers from schools or preparatory courses to solve the tests to arrive at a preliminary answer for the candidates. It was no different with this year's National High School Examination (Enem 2022), which took place over the last two weekends. However, in the resolution of the test, it was noted that a question has no right answer and can be annulled.

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The question responsible for this confusion was number 141 in the pink test, 175 in the yellow test and 157 in the gray and blue tests.

What does the question say?

The wording of the likely annulled question says that a salesperson's salary is made up of a fixed amount and a percentage of sales. Then, he asked the student to identify which was the algebraic expression that correctly represents the composition of the worker's amount.

According to education professionals interviewed by the G1 website, the conclusion is unanimous: there is no correct alternative. And the agent causing all this confusion could have been a simple typing error. This is because the statement says that the salesperson has a base salary of R$675, but the alternatives closest to the correct resolution bring a base salary of R$625.

The Anglo College mathematics coordinator, Rodney Luzio, endorses this conclusion. “It is even a simple question, but we believe that there was a typing error, because, in the statement, he says that the fixed part is 675 and the alternative that Enem should judge correct, which is 'd' [in the Pink test], is like 625", explains.

Inep, responsible for taking the Enem tests, has not yet ruled on the possible annulment of this issue.

What happens when an Enem question is annulled?

According to a survey on the website UOL, between 2009 and 2021, at least seven editions of Enem had questions annulled. According to Inep, candidates are not harmed when this happens.

According to the institute, the Enem score uses a methodology called Item Response Theory. This means that the final result is not a simple sum of how many questions the student got right, but a complex calculation that uses the degree of complexity and difficulty of each question.

So it doesn't mean that everyone gets a point when a question is cancelled.

Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.