S.W.E.A.T.

Summary
It's time for the kids at Lakewood Elementary to take the Stoddard-Wilkins Elementary Aptitude Test, or "S.W.E.A.T." But with anxiety running high, it becomes clear that the kids need to learn some relaxation techniques.

Plot
Arthur is walking onto the school's stage, and is explaining to the third grade about what stress is. As he is telling them, Arthur gets sweaty and Buster tries to help him by cooling him off with a huge fan. Arthur scolds him while Buster apologizes, and claims he was trying to help because Arthur looked sweaty. Arthur continues his speech by saying that we can all get stressed out sometimes. Before he can finsh his next sentence, Buster finishes it for him, much to Arthur's annoyance, since he was going to say "test", but his sentence was finished by "bear". Arthur tells Buster that he is not being very helpful. But suddenly, a bear appears and chases a screaming Arthur off the stage and out of the school, therefore finishing the assembly. D.W. saves him by lowering a ladder from a helicopter she is piloting. Shocked, Arthur asks D.W. when she learned to fly a helicopter, which makes D.W. irritated, due to her thinking it was a ride. She punches the quarter slot to try to get her quarter back, but ends up killing the rotor blades instead. Then, the helicopter slowly falls to the ground.

S.W.E.A.T.

After the title card, Mr. Ratburn explains to his students about what the Stoddard-Wilkins Elementary Aptitude Test (S.W.E.A.T.) is, and he has them take some practice tests to help them prepare at home.

Later, Arthur and Buster are at The Sugar Bowl doing some math problems together. Sue Ellen then shows up, and she comments about of the vocabulary tests. After Arthur notices some extra marks, scribbles, and doodles made by a different type of pencil, he proceeds to tell Sue Ellen that she didn't follow the directions on the test; they're not to make any extra marks and to use a #2 pencil and not any other one. Sue Ellen took a dislike to the pencil when Arthur offered her one, and asks what would happen if she used a different pencil than that one. Suddenly, Binky appears behind them and says that she'd either have to retake it or they'd just fail her, and that he's seen brave third-graders cry like preschoolers when they face the S.W.E.A.T., due to them folding under pressure. He speaks in a phony pirate accent, leaving the trio bewildered.

Back at home, Arthur tries to take a practice test, but is distracted by many annoying things: Mr. Read using his leaf blower, D.W. watching Mary Moo Cow, Mrs. Read grinding apples, and a drippy faucet in the basement.

One morning at Sue Ellen's house, Sue Ellen is sleeping and her alarm clock beeps, causing her to wake up and remember it's S.W.E.A.T. day. Her pet pencil leaps on her bed excitedly, but Sue Ellen regretfully tells it to stay home. Disappointed, the pencil writes her a note that says "Why not?". Sue Ellen replies that it's because it's not a #2 pencil. Sue Ellen looks for the one Arthur gave her, and goes into a panic when she can't find it. She runs out of the house in her pajamas, and then runs into an army of giant #2 pencils that erase everything in sight. Sue Ellen wakes up, and realizes it was just a nightmare.

At The Tree House, Buster is acting out a math problem with dolls and action figures, while Arthur can't concentrate on his practice test. Sue Ellen comes in and offers the boys #2 pencils. Then, Brain comes in. Panicked, Sue Ellen offers him pencils, too. Arthur loses his temper over all the noise, to which Brain tells him to relax about the S.W.E.A.T. Arthur and his friends quote some stuff Binky said about the S.W.E.A.T, at which Brain scoffed.

At the school cafeteria, Mrs. MacGrady notices that the students are acting more nervous than usual, and she knows that it must about the S.W.E.A.T.

She then offers a relaxation class to everyone, which makes them feel better, but Brain finds the class unnecessary, so he naps through the whole thing instead, and then leaves, reading his book.

The morning of the S.W.E.A.T., Brain is doing situps, and then does a practice test. When he's checking the answers in the back, he goes into a panic when he realizes he had skipped a question.

When his test arrives at school on his desk, Brain gasps. Then, his next panic is that he doesn't have a pencil. Sue Ellen gives him a spare, and Brain chews on it nervously. Buster asks Mr. Ratburn if they can have a moment, and he allows one. Buster then gives Brain a relaxation tutorial, until Mr. Ratburn cuts in when Buster is starting to go off-topic. Brain feels better, and says that he couldn't have asked for better relaxation tutors. Mr. Ratburn then starts the tests, and the episode finishes.

Major

 * Buster Baxter
 * Arthur Read
 * Nigel Ratburn
 * The Brain
 * Sue Ellen Armstrong
 * Leah MacGrady

Minor

 * D.W. Read
 * Binky Barnes

Cameo

 * Fern Walters
 * Maria Pappas
 * Francine Frensky
 * George Lundgren
 * 3rd Grade Male Cat
 * Alex
 * Beulah McInnerny
 * Muffy Crosswire
 * Jenna Morgan
 * Brian
 * 3rd Grade Male Rabbit
 * David Read
 * Jane Read

Trivia

 * In the background, Mary Moo Cow can be heard saying: "5, 5, 5 is sweet, it's when I get off work!"
 * Moral:sometimes Stress is good.

Cultural references

 * International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19, meaning that this episode takes place in September.
 * The S.W.E.A.T. is a stand-in for real life tests like the S.A.T., P.S.A.T., and A.C.T.

Home Video
DVD:
 * Arthur Goes Back to School