Last Year's Successful Rhodes Scholar Decided He Could Predict with Some

Essay

Last year's successful Rhodes Scholar decided he could predict with some accuracy whether candidates would be ranked among the top or bottom half by the examining committee. The examining committee ranked the candidates in the order given below, which turns out to be the 10 most common names in America. The T or B in parentheses refers to the prediction of last year's Scholar. What can you conclude about the Scholar's boast? $$\begin{array} { l l l l } \text { 1. } & \text { Smith (T) } & \text { 6. } & \text { Davis (B) } \\\text { 2. } & \text { Johnson (B) } & \text { 7. } & \text { Miller(B) } \\\text { 3. } & \text { Williams (T) } & \text { 8. } & \text { Wilson (T) } \\\text { 4. } & \text { Jones (T) } & \text { 9. } & \text { Moore (B) } \\\text { 5. } & \text { Brown (T) } & \text { 10. } & \text { Taylor (B) }\end{array}$$