American Notes NORTH CAROLINA

With the communist world changing so rapidly, what's a sixth-grade social- studies student in North Carolina to do? After events such as the fall of the Berlin Wall outpaced many questions on a statewide current-events test, officials decided it would be too expensive to update it. Instead they admonished students: "Do not think about the recent governmental changes that have occurred in the past few months when you choose your answers to the questions about Eastern Europe."

That angered teachers, who argued that the policy would undermine their efforts to keep students abreast of history in the making. After an outcry in the media, school officials dashed off a new version of the test to the printers in time for the April examination. Now a student who says Soviet citizens can vote for "candidates of their choice" will be credited with the correct answer.