You reach a certain blearypointin the evening, afterthe heartfelt toasts, after the cake-cutting, after the firstdance to that song from Armageddon, when peopledroptheir guards.
The graduating class of 2012 posted an average score of 496 in reading, a one-point drop from 2011 and a 34-point decline since 1972, the first year the College Board began tracking the scores of "college-bound" seniors.