they could have been close and talking loud

I completely agree, how did this make it to FML?

really? haha i kind of think this sucks, cuz they're still in school....i mean girls talk about it to each other but it gets awkward when its like a TEACHER and a bunch of high school guys listening in as well?

they're supposed to be funny things..not all devastating true fml stuff..why do people always ask, "why is this an fml?"

Nobody likes a smartass, especially one who's not technically correct. Although the class function as a unit, the test was presumably given to them to complete as individuals, suggesting that their efforts would not be not cohesive, in which case 'were' is completely acceptable.

That double negative in my post was caused by mid-sentence editing, before you come out with any more would-be intellectual crap.

I noticed this, too. It's a difference between American and British English. In America, we usually make collective nouns singular, even if the group isn't acting as a whole, with the only holdover being the word "jury," because lawyers, as disreputable as they are, usually manage to have passable grammar. One might suppose that this grammatical difference stems from the American lack of the ethnic identity which defines England. Hence, the American flags, the "we vs. them" mentality (Yes, "It's we against them," is the proper sentence, not, "It's us against them"), the neo-liberal "Captain Kirk" foreign policy, the singular collective nouns... In short, we are a nation of men and women who were picked on as kids, who want to take out our angst on other nations. We try to hide this. When people point out that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 OR weapons of mass destruction, we say, "Well, at least there's the $21,000,000,000,000 worth of oil," but that isn't it either - we'll never get that oil. We're bankrupting our nation because we feel alone and unloved - as a plural collective noun, of course. But we'd never admit it.

Okay, what does all of that have to do with GRAMMAR? Your post makes no sense whatsoever to me, it just sounds like a rant on the United States government. OP- Couldn't she just shut the window? Or were you really talking THAT loud?

This is FML not CNN.

Your comment gave just as much insight as theirs. ;] Haha, I'm sorry about that. Don't talk around classrooms, i guess? I would've just laughed, because they're true [while kinda gross...]. Most girls have an irregular period and unshaven legs when they're younger. ;]

I think you're overreacting. The heater was probably on the whole day and it was really hot. "sue them for this! that! no, that too!" God, I hate that mentality. :|

New Zealands not THAT cold. I live there the coldest it usually gets on winter days in Auckland is usually 5 degrees if not warmer..