If you had to choose, would you save your mother or your girlfriend from a burning building?
That was one of the questions put to law students during recent tests in China.
The BBC reports that the question was posed during an annual judicial examination designed to test future lawyers and judges.
“Those who pass the test are allowed to practise law in China,” the report says.
The correct answer is apparently your mother, since it would be a “crime of non-action” to choose romantic love over “filial duty”.
But the BBC says the Chinese aren’t so sure, with thousands flooding onto internet sites to object to the answer.
“It is ridiculous to equate the obligation to support one’s parents with the obligation to rescue others in an emergency,” complained one.
“According to the law, a son must save his mother,” explained another. “But the law does not say whether he has to save his mother while other people are also in danger.”
That said, mothers did seem to have a lot of sway.
“Girls are everywhere, but I only have one mother,” said one young man.
“I would definitely save my mother first,” said another. “Apart from the legal reasons, my mother raised me. Plus my girlfriend is younger, which means she has a better chance of escaping the fire on her own.”
