Odd one out

[BlueBerry]

This question is driving me potty. Can someone help please?

Which animal is the odd one out please?

Geese, horse, sheep or oxen?

Thanks.

[Bibliovore]

Could be "Geese" as the rest can't fly
Or could be "Geese" because the rest have four legs
On the other hand could be "Horse" as it's the only one which MUST be a singular form.

Do you happen to have the answer?
It's frustrating when there are questions like this with various valid answers.

[Golden_Jubilee]

I would think it is 'Horse' - could be wrong

Geese - Plural of Goose
Sheep - Can be plural of sheep
Oxen - Plural of Ox
Only Horse is singular.

But I see logic behind Bibliovore's answer. Only Geese can fly.

[BlueBerry]

Thank you both for your replies.

Now that GJ explained the answer, it seems so obvious - duh

Bibliovore, that was our method of thinking too. That only geese can fly but the answer was horse.

[Bibliovore]

The fact that you were confused (rightly as there were at least two, possibly three valid answers) shows it was a badly thought-out question.

If they had substituted "Deer" for "Geese" for example, then there wouldn't have been any such confusion and the answer would much more clearly have been "Horse".

[ToadMum]

The fact that you were confused (rightly as there were at least two, possibly three valid answers) shows it was a badly thought-out question.

If they had substituted "Deer" for "Geese" for example, then there wouldn't have been any such confusion and the answer would much more clearly have been "Horse".

Except that 'deer' can be either singular or plural. It would actually have made it equally difficult, I would have thought, as some children would only see 'deer' as singular and so would be balancing two 'plurals' against two 'singulars'?

[Bibliovore]

Except that 'deer' can be either singular or plural. It would actually have made it equally difficult, I would have thought, as some children would only see 'deer' as singular and so would be balancing two 'plurals' against two 'singulars'?

But surely the point of the question is (or was meant to be) to establish the word that can ONLY be singular, so children would be expected to spot that Deer could be either singular or plural. However, "Deer" doesn't work for a different reason - as it might mean some children might then pick "Oxen" as the only word that can ONLY be plural. Maybe "Mice" would work.

You can tell I'd never make it as an 11+ exam setter.