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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>>… So… is there anyone else here who does reading comprehension tests that way? <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>An SAT is a race: if you can get all the way through one of them, you have a huge advantage over those who read carefully, answer half the questions perfectly and never see the rest. So of course my method got me way up into the thin air on those tests. But hey, I never claimed to be smart at reading comprehension.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>So now… I hear they managed to teach software to do that same trick.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Then it occurred to me: the way SAT is done, there isn’t any way to defeat those who learn the tricks. But with computers we can. We can take SAT questions, show the test taker the passage, then remove the passage, then present the questions with no additional access to the passage. Then a prole must read and understand, and remember what was in the passage, ja?<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>OK then, my next idea is that we can have contests where we are forced to that method, human vs human for now. Khan Academy offers a bunch of SAT practice tests (free!) so we could set a timer and do the tests that way, then compare our results. It would be a self-report honor system contest, where you read the passage, then scroll down to hide the text, then off you go.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I fear I would be dumber than a dog turd at that. I would suck worse than Hubert Cecil Booth. It is a different skill from the one I honed to a fine edge in my misspent childhood and youth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>My point: computers would kill us at that game. They remember everything they see, perfectly.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We need to leverage that ability of computers, and this software is a great encouragement that we are on the right track.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>spike<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>