This is the state of American education

[Tellos Athenaios]

I'm really doubting that if the question has been wor ded better that the guy would have gotten it correctly.

My point exactly. The question is about as clear as it can possibly be to the intended audience (native speakers with an American education) and yet not only did one guy under some pressure fail to understand it (which could be the nerves, or being really bad at Math or whatever) a clear majority of the audience failed at the same task as well.

They're not all being extremely bad at basic calculations. But the wider context is, of course, that the USA's literacy rate isn't doing too well.