After a test, Ms. Thompson called Jimmy to her desk and told him she suspected he had been cheating. Jimmy looked astonished and challenged her to prove it. She began with the first question: Who was the first president? Penny, who sat beside him, had written “George Washington.” So had Jimmy. He wasn’t impressed. Everyone knew that answer, he argued. Next came the question about who freed the slaves. Both students had written “Abraham Lincoln.” Jimmy had an explanation ready for that one, too: He had read his history book the night before.
Ms. Thompson asked him to wait. There was still the question about who had been president during the Louisiana Purchase. This time, Penny hadn’t supplied a famous name. Instead, she had written, “I don’t know.” Jimmy’s answer? “Me neither.” Apparently, he had studied his neighbor’s paper a little more closely than his history book.