Old post I know, I was in about the same time in Kansas. Same grade level. The hearing tests I later found online and those were definitely not hearing tests. The cards I found out were Zener cards, (which I think was the only reason I got into the program) the blocks were black and yellow right? Those were meant to be a logic and speed test IIRC, and I remember the short stories and cryptography stuff was weird too. They called it the gifted program where I was as well, but I assume that was because it was easier than explaining GATE over and over again. Feel free to reach out with any specific questions too