That would require them to understand what a "gene" was in order to know that "genetically modified" is intelligible as "contains genes". That in turn requires a working definition knowledge of what a "gene" is. Feh.
You don't have to have a working definition of a "gene" to answer that question, you have to have the ability to pick an answer out of a lineup. This is called "standardized testing" and is what a lot of western countries base their educational system on.
They aren't writing a paper where they have to explain it, they're responding to a question, so it's very easy for someone who has no knowledge, experience or understanding of science or biology to intuitively assume that "genetically modified tomato" means "tomato modif...
Encountered at: https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/03/20/click-and-weep/scientific-literacy/