This is roughly equivalent to the SAT subject area tests (or the GRE subject tests for graduate school admissions). It's not that these don't exist in the US,

This is roughly equivalent to the SAT subject area tests (or the GRE subject tests for graduate school admissions). It's not that these don't exist in the US, it's just that if you're teaching rote memorization, the best proof of success is quizzing on rote memorization. For better or for worse, it does demonstrate instantaneous knowledge, which indicates students' correlative ability to learn, which in turn indicates worthiness for admission to elective higher education. It's certainly not perfect, but it's not the worst thing in the world. It does favor higher socioeconomic classes, though, for a variety of reasons. The good news for Americans, though, is that we have enough colleges and universities to accommodate anyone who wants to learn, no matter what their high school record may be.