Horizon

Can't speak for the SAT, but in my old job we were regularly faced with the spectacle of the international student with a GRE verbal score of over 700 who was functionally incapable of speaking English. There's no real secret to doing well at these multi-choice tests; all you have to do is practice. A lot. Some of the Chinese kids had been taking mock exams weekly for over a year.

I've never seen anything that bad, but did take the SAT perhaps a half-dozen times in high school. Improved my score each time, too.

A bit OT, but brought to mind by the 700+ Verbals who couldn't speak:

A colleague of mine in Madison used to tell the story of when he first went to teach English at a university in Saudi Arabia. Upon arrival he paid a courtesy call on the dean, a Saudi. Also present was the dean's secretary, a non-Saudi Arab, who translated back and forth. My friend thought this odd because on the wall behind the dean was prominently displayed his Ph.D. diploma from a good, reputable American university. In his newly-arrived naivete, my friend had the temerity to ask why, in that case, a translator was necessary. Luckily, the dean was amused and not miffed. He explained, through his secretary, that when he had gone to the US to 'study', his servant had actually taken all the classes, written all the papers and sat all of the exams--in his name. In that way it worked out fine for everyone; he got the degree and the servant got the education.

cheers,

Henry

Now I'm trying to decide if I'd rather have been the Dean or the servant.