What's the Point of This Question?

Here's the question:
Without looking at a periodic table, name all the elements that are adjacent to the following in the periodic table (include diagonals and main group elements):
a) V b) Cr c) Cu d) Au e) Ge

This problem is from a problem set for a third-year inorganic course. I changed the phrasing of the question slightly.

With all due respect to the professor teaching the course, and without any background as to *why* this is on the problem set, I think it is an inane question. Sure, knowing the ordering of the periodic table can be useful, and most chemists know at least the main-group elements rather well, but why brute-force memorize like this? (Please don't give me that "in my day, we had to memorize the entire periodic table and walk uphill both ways in the snow...")

There are other similar questions on the problem set (e.g. "order the 5d elements by atomic number"), along with some normal ones (e.g. nomenclature), but this one is so outstandingly pointless I had to post it. If there are good reasons to ask this question on an assignment (or exam), I'd love to know it.