题目内容：
根据材料，回答问题。F
We might marvel at the progress made in every field of study，but the methods of testing a per- son’s knowledge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were．It．really is extraordinary that af- ter all these years，educationists have still failed to device anything more efficient and reliable than examinations．For all the pious claim that examinations test what you know，it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite．They may be a good means of testing memory，or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure，but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and aptitude．
As anxiety—makers，examinations are second to none．That is because so much depends on them．They are the mark of success or failure in our society．Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day．It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well，or that your mother died．Lit． tie things like that don’t count：the exam goes on．No one can give off his best when he is in mortal terror，or after a sleepless night，yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do． The moment a child begins school，he enters a world of vicious competition where success and fail． ure are clearly defined and measured．Can we wonder at the increasing number of‘drop-outs’： young people who are written off as utter failures before they have even embarked on a career?Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?
A good education should，among other things，train you to think for yourself．The examination system does anything but that．What has to be leant is rigidly laid down by a syllabus，so the student is encouraged to memorize．Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely，but to re． strict his reading；they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge，but induce cramming． They lower the standards of teaching．for they deprive the teacher of all freedoms．Teachers them． selves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects，they are re- duced to training their students in exam techniques which they despise．The most successful candi-dates are not always the best educated；they are the best trained in the technique of working under duress．
The resuhs on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessmen by some anonymous examiner．Examinem aye only human．They get tired and hungry；they make mistakes．Yet they have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates．And their word carries weight.After a judge's decision you have the fight of appeal，but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be manv simpler and more efiective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities. Is it cynical to suggest that examinations are merely a pmfitable business for the institutions that run them? This is what it boils down to in the last analysis．The best comment on the system is this illiterate message recently scrawled on a wall：“l were a teenage drop．out and now I are a teenage millionaire.”
The main idea of this passage is_______. A．examinations exert a pernicious influence on education _______.
B．examinations are ineffective
C．examinations are profitable for institutions
D．examinations are a burden on students．
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