They should just give a couple of yes no questions and be done with it.
I hate to suggest this...but, if you took an average 7th grader and turned to give them this assignment:
1. Read the 100 best novels of all time.
2. Spend an entire year touring European historical sites.
3. Send them on a six month-long walk of Lewis and Clark’s trail, while reviewing an hour of basic physics each day.
4. Review the entire Civil War from 1776 onto the end of the war.
You’d likely have a better educated kid at age sixteen, than this cast of characters now completing four years of college.
Perhaps you should read the article rather than using the title as a springboard to comment. This is a great article, well researched and aptly presented. I really had to set aside my expectations of Slate. If this is the kind of balanced article they are presenting they are doing a excellent job of presenting the facts palatable to the audience or not.