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But for a standardized test, you'll have hundreds of different people grading those papers, all with slightly different ideas of what a "good" paper should look like. By picking a simple standard, you can eliminate the human factor from the grading.
Certainly this is true; it is possible to grade an essay purely on syntax, but doing so is a farce. Nevertheless, if you would, in fact want to gauge someone's writing capacity on syntax instead of semantic content, a computer can do the same, and better.
Why bother pretending?
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>Implying that algebra/geometry are difficult.
Most applications of them are easy to figure out, but finishing the problem set with alacrity requires more than remembering concepts. The skillful application of the principles of algebra and geometry is understandably harder.
Of course, it is multiple choice.. easy to fudge.
Edited, Dec 14th 2009 1:19pm by Pensive