Is this a horribly ambiguous A Level Physics question?

[Mark44]

From the OP:

For example they maintain that the word "rate" implies an increasing quantity, whereas I believe that "rate of pay" simply means how much you get paid. They say that "acceleration" will not do when a body is decelerating whereas I think that "deceleration" is an acceleration with a negative value and that all decelerations are accelerations.

As used in mathematics and physics textbooks, "rate" is a ratio that implies a change in two quantities. A decent mathematics or physics textbook would never use the phrase "rate of pay" unless the problem involved salaries that were increasing or decreasing over time.

With regard to acceleration/deceleration, if an object's velocity is decreasing and the available options describing the situation were these two choices :
a) the object is accelerating,
b) object is decelerating,
the first choice would be wrong.

 

[Mark44]

We're now at 62 posts for this thread. Seems like a good place to end it.
Thread closed.

If someone has some information that hasn't already been discussed, contact me or another mentor, and we'll consider reopening the thread.