To my weary students, on completing yet another round of standardized tests:

Whether it was prompted by a chalkboard full of quotations to memorize or a chunky piece of Hemingway to digest, you have all asked, “Miss Flindt, why do we have to learn this?”
“It’ll be on the test,” I respond automatically.
You believe me. You trust that there will indeed be a test that measures all the [...]