That sums it up. Whoever wrote this problem was trying to start an argument. It's true that the order of operations would say that division and multiplication are equal priority and therefore should be done in order, and 2(9+3) is technically equivalent to 2 * (9+3), which would give the answer of 288. However it's also true that the form 2(9+3) tends to imply the form 2x, where x is a variable, which in turn implies the operation is intended to be 48/2x, where x = 9+3, and therefore the answer would be 2. Bottom line is, anybody who would leave a problem in that form is just asking for trouble. People who are seriously interested in clear communication as opposed to troublemaking use parentheses to make their intentions clear.
