This is different than the reading comprehension tested in the other sections though. It's straightforward to understand what is being said what the extra information tests is if you can determine what information is important to the question you're being asked to solve. Being able to figure that out is really important to practically applying math and most fields one might get into post HS.
Also both of those interpretations are ruled out by a check of the math. 209 salads and 209 salad + drink combos are both more profit than the food van made so if a student answers those they failed to check their work at all.
Also the phrasing there is the same as student would have seen tons of times before taking the test. It's not exactly an extremely exotic way to write it out. Really this is one of the more straightforward questions of the batch presented.
So what percentage of the math score do you think should depend on reading natural language sentences, and what percentage should depend on manipulating equations, numbers, and symbols?
I suppose if the test really wanted to be practical, there would be a few questions about student loans, tuition rate increases, and post-graduation employment rates.
My core argument is that making the questions wordier do not make them better questions for a math test. Most of the practical math I have ever done (anecdotal) has not started as a paragraph of prose. It most often begins as a chart, table, technical drawing, or list of numbers. If I ever need to translate between English and math, it has almost always been to document the mathematical model, rather than implement a model from a written description. I therefore cannot fathom why mathematical pegagogy has such an infatuation with story problems.
Real life just throws a pile of numbers at you, maybe gives you some column headings, and expects you to make sense of it yourself. You want practical? Put up an image of a medical bill next to the insurance statement and ask the student how much they owe. Good luck with parsing that "off vst l3, 2MT38K, diag" and the "negtd max" and the "less copay".
Also both of those interpretations are ruled out by a check of the math. 209 salads and 209 salad + drink combos are both more profit than the food van made so if a student answers those they failed to check their work at all.
Also the phrasing there is the same as student would have seen tons of times before taking the test. It's not exactly an extremely exotic way to write it out. Really this is one of the more straightforward questions of the batch presented.