ACET Aftermath
September 19th, 2009 | Published in Life | 3 Comments
I’m back, a nauseated and tired heap, in Butuan after taking the Ateneo College Entrance Test (ACET) in neighboring Surigao City. There is not much to report about the ACET, except that I’m not so sure how well I did. The test questions were pretty easy (somewhat difficult at most), but it was the time constraint that killed me.
By the way, I would like to point out that question number 143 of the ACET (Logical Reasoning portion) is very racist. It said something to the effect of “A witness said a Negro murdered the woman, and Joe, a Negro, was caught at the scene of the crime, so therefore Joe is the murderer”. Two points of contention here: first, the term “negro”, although archaic now, can sometimes be considered a slur—it could have been replaced by a friendlier word like “African-American”. Second, the question perpetuates (perhaps unintentionally) the stereotype that Afro-Americans are predisposed to committing crimes. Para walang gulo, the question could have stated, for example, that the witness saw a man in a blue jacket murder the woman and that Joe was caught at the scene of the crime wearing a Blue Eagles jacket. Diba?
But that’s just me nitpicking.
Also, each test booklet was marked “2007 Version”. Didn’t know Ateneo doesn’t change entrance exam questions every year. Doesn’t that compromise the accuracy of the test results? I mean, for all we know, a quiet leakage might have taken place weeks before the exams. (Not that multiple-choice questions can very accurately measure someone’s real intelligence in the first place…)
But that’s just me nitpicking.
***
No classes on the 21st, but it’s going to be a busy day for me. I’m hosting the finals of Butuan’s Got Talent, and I reckon Yeng Constantino’s going to be performing, too. My biggest worry is that I bump into her backstage and I won’t look surprised or excited (I’m not a big fan of OPM). What do I say? “Hey”, “Howdy”, “Hullo”, “Uy, Yeng, isdatchu!”?
Very disappointed you're not an OPM fan.
Were those ACET questions written by Filipinos? Or, were they lifted from an American test booklet published 60 years ago? LOL. I had a similar experience when I took the entrance exam at one of those schools in QC. I'm sure you did well.
In the USA, the term “negro” is archaic, and nowadays not really considered racist nor is it a slur. It's just a term from a bygone era. Also, “Afro-American” is a bit outdated. In the USA, blacks refer to themselves as either “African American”, “Black American”, or plainly, “black”. You can ask them politely and they will tell you. In the UK, they call themselves “black”. However, people of African descent who live in Spanish-speaking parts of the world call themselves “negro”. In Africa, they call themselves simply, “Africans”.
True that the preferred term in most of the world nowadays is simply “black”.
It's still pretty weird that they included such a racially charged question in their entrance examinations though, wouldn't you agree? LOL.
Thanks for the comment!
oh, wait. really? 2007 pa diay to?! (shucks, gapaila ra ko na wa ko nagbasa'g tarong!) LOL