Chinese Examinations: Could you pass?

When you teach in China, inevitably a discussion of the national examination system – the gaokao -- will emerge. The gaokao is a three day examination that determines an 18 year-old’s future – where she’ll study, what she’ll study and what her chances are for a good job, after she finishes her studies.  Gaokao means ‘high exam.”   While most countries use a range of metrics to determine college admissions – SAT, high school grades, out-of-class experiences, in China, the gaokao is a three day marathon on which everything rests.

When asked if it is a good system, most students claim that it is.  They see it as the great equalizer.  They argue that students who live in the country compete against students who live in the city on equal ground.  (Of course, the truth is, it is not.  Students who have the means are sent away to private schools to be trained in how to take the exam.  Students who don’t have the means are thus disadvantaged.)  But, like it or not, it is a central and formative experience in all college students’ lives

The questions range from multiple choice to essay.  Here are a few.  How would you fare?  If you're not one for exams, skip over these, and see what my students have to say about taking them!

(Answers at the end)

1.  If x + y ≥ a, x - y ≤ -1, and the minimum value of z = x + ay = 7, what is a?

A. -5

B. -5 or 3

C. 3

D. 5 or -3

2. Between June and August, a cruise ship travels from Fujian province to Venice, via Mumbai, as part of Xi's "21st century maritime silk road" strategy. Which of the following would it experience on the way?  (A map is provided)

A. When passing through the South China Sea, the cruise will face continuous rain.

B. When passing through the Arabian Sea, the cruise will sail against winds and currents.

C. When passing through the Red Sea, large stretches of forests will be seen alongside the coast.

D. When passing through the Mediterranean Sea, the cruise will experience several days of rainstorms.

3. Fill in the blanks on this English grammar question: Good families are much to all their members, but ___ to none.

A. Something

B. Anything

C. Everything

D. Nothing

4.  President Xi has said that while art can release the wings of imagination, it should still be down-to-earth. There may be hundreds of ways to create art, but the best way is to have it take root in people's daily lives, and create something based off of that. From a materialist point of view, this is because (pick two of the statements below):

I. Art originates from people's daily lives.

II. Art depends on innovation.

III. The way art reflects on society and its style is unified.

IV. Art is a form of ideology that reflects people's lives, while serving the people at the same time.

A. I and II.

B. I and IV.

C. II and III.

D. III and IV.

5.  In a letter to James Madison in March 1787, George Washington wrote: "That a thorough reform of the present system is indispensable, none who have capacities to judge will deny — and with hand and heart I hope the business will be essayed in a full Convention." What does the "thorough reform" refer to?

A. Eradicate defect of federal system.

B. Establish republic system with check and balance of three powers.

C. Abolish constitutional monarchy.

D. Change the loose federal system.

6. To understand the academic performance of 1,000 students, the systematic sampling method is adopted to choose 40 samples. What should the sampling interval be?

A. 50

B. 40

C. 25

D. 20

7. Banks charge processing fees and interest when granting loans. They charge fees because of the services provided, such as account management. The reason for claiming interest is that:

A. Banks are a monopoly.

B. Bank credit is higher than commercial credit.

C. Capital offered by banks is a factor of production.

D. Banks are the hub of smooth production.

8.  Write an essay on how Thomas Edison would react to the mobile phone if he visited the 21st century.

  

9.  In life, people are often eager to focus on their own needs, but also eager to be needed by others in order to realize their own self-worth. The feeling of "being needed" is a common feeling, but what does it mean to you? Write an essay on this.

10. Write a letter to the 18-year-olds of 2035.

[Source:  “Business Insider”  Business Insider, June 2018]

(Answers at the end)

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Temple to ensure good fortune on exams

My students wrote a Cause/Effect essay about the effect of the gaokao on their lives and China.  Their responses were interesting.  Most were able to present the strengths, as presented to them –  it is a fair system, it puts students on equal footing, it helps China find the most talented students. But below the surface, one can still feel the stress and anxiety brought on by the exam.  All of these students did well.  Jiaotong is one of the C9 – therefore, a top university in China.  The fact that they are enrolled in the school suggests that they were successful. Still, their description of it make it sound very stressful!

Tina began her essay:

“Every year in June in China, millions of teenagers rush to a nervous exam room and fight for their 12-year-studying result.  They are taking the university entrance examination, also named “gaokao.  The gaokao might be the most significant event for every Chinese family, and it brings the nice announcement for the hardworking student; however, it also caused the negative aspect in Chinese society.”

She then praised the exam: 

Gaokao definitely provides high school students an amazing offer to achieve their dream in the education process. First, because of this exam, students are pushed to put all their efforts to absorb knowledge... Second, gaokao is the easiest and the most fair method to check students learning capability, which also means that gaokao can help break the social bracket. Obviously, there is no one country in the world that could claim confidently that its education system is absolutely fair. In China, through gaokao, the students who come from mountainous area could have the precious opportunity to enter the high qualification university to change their lives. We have to admit that standard examination mend the fence of the unequal education resources. Third, gaokao is also the way for youth to analyze their interest and make professional choices…..  From this aspect, gaokao might be the chance for teenagers to think more about their future.

Natalie however disagreed, offering specifics regarding the preparation for the exam:

“In the process of preparing for gaokao, there are many problems. This competitive examination gives students a lot of pressure. For example, in my senior year of high school, I only had about four hours to sleep every day, and the serious lack of sleep made me very tired. I got up at 5:30 every morning, eating breakfast in my mother’s car, starting morning reading at 6:30. After a full day studying, I went home at 11:30 in the evening, and went to bed at 1:00 in the next day morning. The heavy study load and workload made me irritable. I often quarreled with my parents about some trivial matters. I always complain that they disturbed my study, complaining that their cooking is not suitable for my taste, complaining that they do not understand me… Gao Kao increased the conflicts in my family. I often tell my parents that if I had known what it would take to grow up, I wouldn’t like to grow up. And gaokao needs us to practice repeatedly, this kind of exam-oriented education makes students lose a lot of possibilities. It may kill their creativities.”

Zoey too remembered the strain:

“On the one hand, Gao Kao has some negative effects on students. First and foremost, it discourages students’ creativity. Teachers provide the same input in the classroom; thus, students output the similar answers. Besides, it does great harm to students’ health. Almost every student stays up late into midnight, drinks a large amount of coffee or tea, and seldom do sports. What’s more, it destroys students’ relationships with others. Influenced by pressures, they tend to be angry with parents easily. Classmates, schoolmates and students in the same province compete fiercely with each other. Gradually, there exists estrangement among them and their friends.”

She then reflected again on the positive offerings:

“On the other hand, there are lots of positive effects of Gao Kao. Firstly, students work with high efficiency. They have a good time management, which helps them to focus on what they can control and let go of what they cannot control. And how do they eat an elephant? One bite at a time. They divide their countless assignments into several parts so that they can finish them one by one. Secondly, students set goals. In the short term, they desire to make great progress in quizzes. And in the long term, they hope to be admitted by their dream universities. Last but not least, they have the optimistic mentality. They try their best to make a balance between ability and ambition. Not only do their parents have high expectations on them, but their teachers also ask them to meet strict requirements. So they have no choice but to deal with those pressures. Also, they are modest about their successes and let go their past failures.”

Shawn too started out with criticism:

“As a student, I do not like Gao Kao at all. In China, students spend three years in high schools. They usually study new knowledge in the first two years, and then spend the whole last year doing endless exercises to make sure they will not make any mistakes on the Gao Kao, the most important exam for them. In my opinion, the third year is meaningless. I think the young should keep studying new things instead of reviewing what they have already learned and repeating the exercises. It is absolutely a waste of time because people have their best memory at that age. This is a bad effect of Gao Kao.”

He then added another effect that the exam has on society –in this case, families and teachers:

“For teachers and parents, Gao Kao is also an important event in their lives. Teachers and parents are the people who are the most closed to the students. They all want to do their best to help their students or children get better grades in Gao Kao, so they also have a lot of pressure. The parents usually prepare the best food and study environment for the students. Many of them feel nervous and worried during the preparation for Gao Kao. Sometimes the teachers and the parents are so tired and worried about the grades that they may blame the students for the mistakes in the exercises. I think this hurts their relationships.”

All of the students, however, offered very vague conclusions as to how to fix the problem.   Shawn is willing to see it as offering necessary positive benefits:

“In conclusion, Gao Kao has many effects on the high school students, their teachers and their parents. Some effects are good while some are not. Gao Kao also has good effects on the country and the society for selecting the talented people in the fairest way. It has changed many people’s lives and their destinies. As far as I am concerned, Gao Kao as a social phenomenon will continue to exist because its positive effects outweigh its negative effects.” 

Tina was less sure: 

“In a word, gaokao is a complex social issue in Asian countries. We need to face this examination with neutrality. The most significant thing is the people who decide the whole education system need to experience the feeling that every teenager suffers, personally, so that the governor may make more proper choices.”

Clearly not all of their creativity was stifled, because Dorothy offered the following poem to help explain the suffering:

A SILENT CLASSROOM

It is a silent classroom

A classroom full of students

Students who are surrounded by books and pens

Textbooks, exercise books, rough notebooks

Black pens, red pens, all-the-other-color pens

But look around quietly

There are so many banners pasted on the walls

Banners are shouting

“FIGHTING!” “LEARNING!” “EXERCISING!”

“BE DILIGENT!” “BE CONCENTRATED!” “BE SUCCESSFUL!”

Sit down beside a student.

The heart is beating loudly.

The hand is writing quickly --

So loud that you may get nervous,

So quick that the paper rustles.

These sounds are permitted

In the silent classroom,

Permitted by the visible banners and invisible competition.

The number of pages in the book increases gradually,

But the days for reviewing become fewer and fewer.

The lights are still, the air is frozen.

Beyond that, only the river of time and ink flows

Students are racing inside the world of knowledge.

When the bell rings,

They shall wake and laugh like a teenager.

It has just been announced that, due to COVID, the exam has been postponed from the beginning of June to the beginning of July.   That makes me sad.  Seniors face one more month of studying, one more month of stress and one more month of strain between parents, teachers and students.  They all face one more month before they can “wake and laugh like a teenager.”

Answers:  1. B                2.  B                     3. C       4. B            5. D                6. C                7.   C

Could you pass?

A.  No way!  I couldn't even figure out the grammar sentence
B.  Wh-a-a-?  Ocean currents on a cruise ship...?
C.   Minimum value....?
D.  The essay questions look like fun
E.  All of the above
F.  None of the above