Two Rules Of The Workshop
Written by Studio AM.
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Herr Bruns had two rules. A clock that runs fast is worse than a clock that has stopped, and the second rule was that the first rule applied to people as well.
His apprentice, Liesl, disliked the second rule until the winter she rushed a repair for an impatient customer. The clock kept good time for three days and then failed in a way that cost four times the original work. A stopped clock announces its failure, Bruns told her afterward; a fast clock hides its failure inside a plausible answer, and the owner arranges a whole day around that answer before discovering the error.
Liesl thought about this far longer than she expected to. The lesson was not really about clocks. It was about the difference between being wrong and being wrong convincingly, and she came to believe that the second was the more expensive condition, in workshops and everywhere else.
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Questions
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Question 1 of 4
What is the passage mainly about?
The answer is C: A believable error can mislead people before they notice it
Bruns contrasts an obvious failure with an error that looks plausible. Liesl comes to see why the second can have wider consequences.
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Question 2 of 4
What happened after Liesl rushed the repair?
The answer is A: The clock kept good time for three days, then failed expensively
The text says it kept good time for three days and then failed in a way that cost four times the original work.
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Question 3 of 4
According to Bruns, why is a fast clock worse than a stopped one?
The answer is D: People may plan around an incorrect time before noticing
In Bruns's example, the plausible time influences the owner's plans before the error is discovered.
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Question 4 of 4
What does 'plausible' mean in this passage?
The answer is B: easy to believe
The fast clock hides its failure inside an answer that looks reasonable, so plausible means believable, not true.
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