The revisions will take effect in 1994. The biggest change is in the mathematical questions on the aptitude test, which will be renamed the Scholastic Assessment Test, or SAT I. About 15 of the 60 math questions will require computation and short answers; there will be no multiple choices to pick from. Students will be allowed to use calculators. “That begins to send a message to schools that it is the problem-solving ability that is important and not just the ability to select the correct answer,” says retiring Harvard president Derek Bok, cochairman of an advisory panel of 15 educators who reviewed the changes.

The verbal section of the SAT I will test more vocabulary in reading passages and drop some isolated word exercises; the antonyms, for instance, will be excised. The achievement tests, which aren’t required by all colleges, will be renamed the SAT II. The 15 one-hourlong tests of subject areas will be expanded to include language exams in Japanese and Chinese, a non-Western history test, an English-as-a-second-language exam, a test of basic subjects for students who aren’t high achievers and, for those hearty few, a writing test that will include an essay.

Some educators are disappointed that the SAT I will not include a mandatory written-essay question. “I think the College Board was aware of considerable constituencies for whom English is not their first language who feared that this would harm them,” says Fred Hargadon, Princeton’s admissions director. “But we really can’t overlook that English is still the medium of instruction, and at some point to be successful it has to be mastered.” Over the past three years, field tests included experimental essay questions. In the academic community it had been assumed that after more fine-tuning, essays would become part of the standard regimen. Many officials objected, however, particularly in California, which has a large and fast-growing immigrant population. The opposition was led by Patrick Hayashi, associate vice chancellor at the University of California, Berkeley. “I support an essay,” he says. “I just didn’t think it had been adequately field-tested or thought through.”

This was more than talk. Last month a committee of the California Legislature held public hearings on the SATs, a thinly veiled reminder that the public campuses in the nation’s largest state could drop the exam. “I hope that the hearing provided at least a catalyst for the College Board to consider that they are no longer operating in a vacuum,” says state Sen. Art Torres. In his view, the Educational Testing Service, which administers the SAT, will have to explain publicly its policies and their effects on students. The Californians prevailed, and the mandatory essay was dropped. Says Donald M. Stewart, president of the College Board, “One of the guiding principles of our explorations has been an absolute commitment to guaranteeing the fairness of the SAT.”

The College Board hopes to put more of a premium on critical thinking and mathematical computation, making the SATs less susceptible to coaching and more relevant to classroom learning. But critics argue that the revisions don’t address the test’s real flaws. They charge that such multiple-choice tests don’t accurately assess student ability and are biased against women and minority groups; they’d rather scrap the exams. “The changes are just polish,” says Bob Schaeffer, public-education director at FairTest, a Cambridge , M ass . -based advocacy group. “It’s adding new tail fins to the Edsel.” That may be, but in the meantime, prospective Ivy Leaguers will have to keep sharpening their pencils and drying their palms.

If the average (arithmetic mean) of four numbers is 37 and the average of two of these numbers is 33. what is the average of the other two numbers?

The domestic cat is a contradiction. No other animal has developed such an intimate relationship with humanity while at the same time demanding and getting such independent movement and action ….

According to the above. why is the domestic cat a “contradiction”?

A. It generally gives the appearance of being aloof and arrogant but is actually quite dependent on its owners.

B. It relies on human beings for survival but does not become attached to them.

C. It lives comfortably with humans but avoids being dominated by them.

D. It survives as well in the wild as in captivity.

E. The wildcat is a solitary creature but the domestic cat becomes attached to its human owner.

ANSWERS: 41; C

SOURCE: EDUCATIONAL TESTING SERVICE