I would have given anything if the boy had been able to blast her back with “Getting straight A’s doesn’t make me smart, being smart makes me get straight A’s”
Being smart is necessary but not sufficient to get straight As.
It is also necessary to work hard.
Of course, if the scale is dumbed down enough, everybody will get straight As!
I’ve excelled at every level of schooling, from grammar school through law school. I learned to answer that question honestly. No, it doesn’t make me smart, it just means I prepared for the test and knew the answers to the questions they asked