ANOTHER TEST FOR JOHNNY

Last night ( in our story) actually happened a long,long time ago.

Johnny didn't sleep well. You see, he had a test today and Johnny seldom did well on tests.

It wasn't that Johnny wasn't bright enough to pass tests. His teachers, relying on standarized test results to measure intelligence knew he had the intelligence. Therefore they felt justified to scold him for his poor test results.

This reinforced Johnny's conclusion he must be dumb.

How bright was Johnny? Only the Shadow knew. And, of course, his teachers -and the caretakers of the school intelligence testing records.

You see, back then, so-called "IQ" test results were kept about as secret as The Manhattan Project.

The theory was that if you revealed to the student any "IQ" scores that were substantially above the mean - the student would simply cease to study and just "get by."

On the other hand, if the scores were below the mean, teachers and admimistrators were also reluctant to reveal the results to those students for fear they would simply "give up.".

It was perceived to be a "lose-lose" proposition.

Anyway, students like Johnny who were very "bright' were left in the "dark".

It is curious now why nobody bothered to question why Johnny failed "test taking" but had memorized the batting averages for the players on all 8 teams in the National League at that time.

So now, the day after the restless sleep night, Johnny sat in his hard back desk chair awaiting receipt of todays test for which he was sure he would earn yet one more "F" - for "Failure."

Then he preceded to turn over the test questions and with his wooden pencil - the size of a peg on a whaling ship- he began to write what he felt were the logical answers to the strange questions he would usually encounter.

The following are the questions and Johnny's answers*:

Q1 - In which battle did Napoleon die?
        * His last battle.
Q2 - Where was the Declaration of Independence signed?
        * At the bottom of the page.
Q3 - River Rivi flows in which state?
        * Liquid.
Q4 - What's the main reason for divorce?
        * Marriage
Q5 - What's the main reason for failure?
        * Exams.
Q6 - What can you never eat for breakfast?
         * Lunch & dinner.
Q7 - What looks like half an apple?
         * The other half.
Q8 - If you throw a red stone into the blue sea
        what will it become?
        * It will simply become wet.
Q9 - How can a man go 8 days without sleeping?
        * No problem, he sleeps at night.
Q10 - How can you lift an elephant with 1 hand?
        * You'll never find an elephant with 1 hand.
Q11 - If you had 3 apples and 4 oranges in 1 hand
          and 3 oranges and 4 apples in the other
          hand - what would you have?
         * Very large hands.
Q12 - If it took 8 men 10 hours to build a wall,
          how long would it take 4 men to build it?
         * No time at all. Wall is already built.
Q13 - How can you drop a raw egg onto a
          concrete floor without cracking it?
        * Any way you want. Concrete floors are
           very difficult to crack.

Johnny got his usual "F".

I wish I could have been there for Johnny, if
only to tell him "F" meant "Fantastic!"