There are probably two possibilities here; one is playing with the fact that
there are no differences among the answers.  The other is that they are in
descending order of sincerity.  We don't always mean of course when we say
it!

> ----------
> From:         Ito kazumasa[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> Sent:         Tuesday, December 29, 1998 11:36 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      certainly,definitely,of course?
>
> Hello listers,
>   I have come across a very interesting (and confusing) question on the
> Internet which goes as follows:
>
> Are you fond of Mister Yngwie Malmsteen?
> [] definitely
> [] absolutely
> [] yes really
> [] of course yes
>
>  You are supposed to check one of the above four answers. Now what puzzles
> me is that Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English(1995) defines
> DEFINITELY as "with no chance of being wrong, Certainly" and
> OF COURSE as "Certainly". In addition, it gives no definition that shows a
> difference in meaning between ABSOLUTELY and DEFINITELY.
>   However, the above question clearly distinguishes these three adverbs.
> Could someone please enlighten me on this problem? I'm utterly confused.
> Thank you very much in advance.
>
> Kazumasa Ito
> Sapporo,Japan
> [log in to unmask]
>