ABSTRACT
Contemporary society is awash in tests. Some nursery schools require the toddlers who would attend them to pass an entrance examination. This is the beginning of an endless torrent of tests that will probe every corner of their nature and behaviour for the rest of their lives. A faculty member at Columbia University spoke of a friend who was planning to begin graduate studies after having been out of school for several years. The professor asked whether she was anxious about the Graduate Record Examination, a standardized test required for admission to graduate school. ‘Well,’ came the response, ‘I’m an American. I was born to be tested.’
