Each week, we present a surveying problem for you to solve from the third edition of “Surveying Solved Problems for the FS and PS Exams” by Jan Van Sickle, PLS (formerly "1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems"), some jokes, trivia or other amusing items and a cool link to brighten your day. If you have a joke or link you would like to share, please submit it to ornekianl@bnpmedia.

Joke of the Week: The Hotshot

A young businessman had just started his own firm.

He rented a beautiful office and had it furnished with antiques.

Sitting there, he saw a man come in to the outer office.

Wishing to appear the hotshot, the businessman picked up the phone and started to pretend he had a big deal working.

He threw huge figures around and made giant commitments.

Finally he hung up and asked the visitor, "Can I help you?"

The man said, "Yeah, I've come to activate your phone lines."

Problem of the week: Plats and Mapping: Map Types and Symbols

Which of the following statements does NOT correctly describe a difference between a map and a plat?

A. A plat may function as a legal description of the land it represents in lieu of a written description. A map rarely fulfills such a function.

B. A plat is more likely to show property boundaries than is a map. A map's emphasis is more often on physical features.

C. A map may contain omissions or generalizations of particular physical features. A plat generally shows all data necessary to accurately represent the land it delineates.

D. A map is more likely to show dimensional data than is a plat. A plat usually is intended for uses where distances and quantities are determined by scaling.

This is problem 1(10-1) from the NEW third edition of “Surveying Solved Problems for the FS and PS Exams” by Jan Van Sickle, PLS (formerly "1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems"). Reprinted with permission from “Surveying Solved Problems for the FS and PS Exams” by Jan Van Sickle, PLS (2008 Professional Publications Inc.). For details on this and other FLS exam-prep books, call 800/426-1178 or visit www.ppi2pass.com

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