Amon, poems are suitable to be used in the exam because they are not too long as you all need to read 3 reading pieces for each continent. and it requires the same reading skills as with short stories. if you can read and talk about the cultural issues from the short stories, then you can also do so with poems.
we don't want to include 3 unseen short stories in the exam, because we concern about the limited time you have to finish your test. that's why you'll get to read poems/excerpts instead.