Mr. Johnson adjusted his glasses and turned both papers to the final page. Johnny stood with his arms crossed, looking completely relaxed. He was certain the teacher couldn’t prove anything. After all, two students could easily give the same correct answers on a history test. Johnny had already defended himself twice, and he was feeling rather proud of his quick thinking. A few classmates watched from their desks, curious to see whether he would manage to talk his way out of trouble again.

“Now, Johnny,” the teacher said, “the last question asked who was president during the Louisiana Purchase.” Johnny glanced at the paper and tried to remember what he had written. Mr. Johnson continued, “Mary apparently didn’t know the answer, because she wrote, ‘I don’t know.'” Johnny immediately brightened. “Well, there you go, sir! That proves nothing. Maybe I didn’t know the answer either. You can’t expect every student to remember every president!”

Mr. Johnson smiled. “That’s exactly what makes your answer so interesting.” He held up Johnny’s test paper and pointed to the final line. “You see, Johnny, when Mary wrote ‘I don’t know,’ you didn’t write the name of a president. You didn’t even write ‘I don’t know’ yourself.” Johnny’s confident smile began to disappear. The teacher paused for a moment, then read Johnny’s answer aloud: “Me neither.” For a second, the classroom was completely silent. Then several students burst into laughter.

Johnny stared at his paper, realizing there was absolutely no explanation that could save him this time. He had been so busy copying Mary’s answers that he had forgotten the teacher would read them separately. Mr. Johnson shook his head and said, “Johnny, next time, try studying instead of borrowing someone else’s brain.” Johnny sighed and replied, “Well, at least now I know what I got wrong!” The teacher raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?” Johnny answered, “I should’ve copied from somebody who knew the answers!”

Did Johnny deserve a zero on the test, or would you have laughed and given him another chance? 😂