PSAT: palpably stupid [and] abnormally tasteless

The PSATs. Possibly the least halcyon test of our teenage youth (next to the SATs, of course). Although I don't mean to exhort an inordinate amount of complaints from the students of PV, I don't understand why we must take this test. It only exacerbates the stress thrown upon the students in this school. And, although I don't mean to impede on the grand educational strategy of this government, the PSATs only serve to emulate the SATs. Therefore, why take both? Students can practice on their own time with their own tutors. This raises another concern; if this test really holds some sort of implicit message (hinting at the fact that to do well on the test, students must be tutored), is the SAT really a test?

^This is probably what you look like right now.

...well, not exactly, but...

Bear with me for a moment. The definition of a test, one would say, is "a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something, esp. before it is taken into widespread use" (as stated by the standard dictionary on the Apple MacBook laptops). This being true, isn't this test supposed to analyze how well a student will perform in the real world? I suddenly feel imbued with a revelation...

This being said, I believe wholeheartedly that this SAT, the mother of all tests, [and the PSAT] should do just that: analyze how well a student will perform in the real world. Maybe it should test street smarts as well as school skills--the point being that the SATs should not test how well one takes a test. This is a common criticism of the SATs).
Forgive me if I appear to be lacking any chauvinism for the educational standards but I believe, along with many others, that these tests should not test how one takes a test. And although I may not have known what enigmatic word halcyon meant when I took the PSATs, I sure do now, but not because of living in the "real" world. Rather, I know what halcyon means because of a test. Because, apparently, according to the SAT makers and the folks at collegeboard, halcyon is a common word used in everyday speech...are you a halycon person?