EFLese: Past Perfect questions and answers

Hi all,





Suppose you’re working at your desk and a colleague comes up to you and says “Had you had breakfast when you got to work today?” What would you answer?





a) Yes, as a matter of fact I already had had breakfast when I got on the bus to work!



b) Say what??? Ah, you mean “Did I have breakfast before going to work?”, right? Yeah, I did.





You see, I have recently received an exam in which I am supposed to (orally) ask the above question. The student is supposed to answer using the past perfect tense. If they don’t, I am to assume that they are not answering correctly.



Now, quite frankly, I find that the proposed question is rather odd, especially in the spoken register. It appears to inquire about the specific moment when the person arrived at work, whereas a more common version of the same question would probably inquire about the breakfast in the simple past. So I would like to ask you people a few questions, just to see whether my doubts are shared by others.



How often do you inquire about past events using the past perfect?

If someone put the above question to you in the past perfect, would you likely answer in the same tense, or would you use the simple past? And, finally, would you mark an answer in the simple past as incorrect?