[GenXteacher]

Our US history tests and Civics/Econ tests are a lot like that- they are more tests of vocabulary/literacy than they are about the subject matter....

[A_perfect_lady]

Yeah. You can tell the test question was written by some Ph.D. who doesn't realize that most people don't talk like he does:

"In the preceding paragraph, locate and identify the example that illustrates the underlying motivation of the protagonist." My 12 year olds would do a lot better if it said "Why did Ponyboy and Johnny run away?" (Especially given that for most of them, English is a second language.)