An exam with a 90+% pass rate is a formality, any way you put it
An exam can be muderously difficult yet have a high pass rate. It depends on the barrier to get to the point of taking the exam.
Which would mean that the barrier is the key for success, not the exam. The exam would be the formality showing you passed the other barrier.
Take Smicha for example. If a Yeshiva only allowed people to take the exam after they’ve shown bekiuys in Basar V’Chalav Taaruvos, and have gotten a 90 or higher on all individual exams, and can be spot-tested on Shachs, then that is the hard part. The actual “exam” (where you get formally tested) may not be significantly difficult, but may still be important for formalities.
Also, as you pointed out, more than 99% of the population can’t make a leining. Does that make a Gemorah test “murderously difficult”?
Why is it an insult to be in a low-barrier field?
I think if someone works very hard for something and the attitude is, “no big deal, anybody could do that”, that could be insulting.
As with everything else, if you work hard and are at the top of your field, you will do well. Take law, for example. Plenty of people (seemingly nowdays) can go to a school and pass the bar, but not everyone can go to a top school or become successful in the field. That takes hard work.
(equal opportunity insulter).