The Final Exam The weekend before their big history final, four college buddies decided to go to St. Louis to party with friends. However, after partying all night, they slept all day Sunday and didn't make it back to Springfield until early Monday morning. Rather than taking their history final then, they decided to find their professor after it was over and explain to her why they had missed it. They had gone to St. Louis for the weekend, they told her, and had planned to come back in time for the test, but on the way back, they'd taken a short cut down a dirt road and had had a flat tire. They didn't have a spare and couldn't get help for a long time and as a result they missed the final. The Professor thought about it awhile and then agreed they could make up the final the following day. The guys were elated. They studied together that evening and, the next morning, arrived for the test. The professor placed them in separate rooms, handed each of them a test booklet, and told them to begin. They looked at the first problem. It asked: "(For 5 points) On what date was the Declaration of Independence ratified?" "Cool," they thought at the same time, each in his separate room. "This test is going to be a breeze." Each wrote July 4, 1776 and then turned the page. On the second page was written: "(For 95 points): Which tire?"