外国人眼中的高考 理想与现实的差距

 　　Gaokao from foreigners' perspective

　　外国人眼中的高考

　　Allegedly the world's largest high-stakes test featuring cramming¹ and intense exam preparation, the gaokao has been attracting foreign media attention. Curious reporters found some typical gaokao scenes such as the following.

　　由于被称为全球最大高风险考试"，并以"死记硬背"著称，中国高考也引起了外媒关注。好奇的外国记者记录下了这样一些典型镜头：

　　外国人眼中的高考 理想与现实的差距

　　One yaer,before the gaokao

　　高考前1年…

　　For the past year, Liu Qichao has focused on one thing, and only one thing: the gaokao. Fourteen to 16 hours a day, he studied for the college entrance examination. He took one day off every 3 weeks. (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009)

　　整整一年，刘奇超所有的心思都放在一件事情上，这唯一的一件事便是：高考。他每天学习14到16个小时，每3个星期休息一天。(《纽约时报》，2009年6月13日)

　　Three month,before the gaokao

　　高考前3个月…

　　Ma Li, 18, fits the profile of a final-year student toiling² on the exam treadmill³. She regularly puts in an extra 6 hours at home at the end of a 10-hour school day. (BBC, Jun 8, 2012)

　　18岁的马丽是在高考机器上挥汗如雨的典型学生形象。她每天在学校学习10小时之外，还要在家再多复习6小时。（英国广播公司，2012年6月8日）

　　One week,before the gaokao

　　高考前1周…

　　Families pull out all the stops to optimize⁴ their children's scores. In Sichuan Province in southwestern China, students studied in a hospital, hooked up to oxygen containers, in the hope of improving their concentration. Some girls take contraceptives so they will not get their periods during the exam. (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009)

　　每家每户都想尽办法帮助自己的孩子考试中取得高分。在中国西南地区的四川省，学生一边在医院吸氧一边复习，以期提高注意力。一些女孩子则服用避孕药物以防止月经周期在考试期间到来。(《纽约时报》，2009年6月13日)

　　The day of gaokao

　　高考当天

　　Outside the exam sites, parents keep vigil for hours, as anxiously as husbands waiting for their wives to give birth. A tardy⁵ arrival is disastrous⁶. One student who arrived 4 minutes late in 2007 was turned away, even though she and her mother knelt before the exam proctor, begging for leniency⁷. (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009)

　　考场外，家长们持续几个小时地等待，就像等待妻子临产的丈夫一样焦虑。迟到则是毁灭性的，2007年就有一名学生迟到了4分钟，她和她的母亲在监考官面前跪下了，仍然未能参加考试。(《纽约时报》，2009年6月13日)

　　Tough reality

　　理想与现实

　　Following the end of the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), China's universities were reopened and the entrance exam was launched in 1977. The vision behind it was utopian. The gaokao was expected to ensure that a peasant's son from Gansu has the same doors open as a Shanghai official - to make high test scores, not political patronage⁸ or guanxi (relationships), the ticket to a university education.

　　1977年，"文革"后的中国重开大学，恢复了高考，其背后的想法是理想化的：让一个来自甘肃的农家子弟与一个来自上海官员家庭的孩子拥有同等的机会；让分数，而不是政治恩惠或关系，成为大学教育的通行证。

　　But lower-income Chinese parents now endure too heavy a financial burden as they push their children to obtain as much education as possible.

　　但是现在，中国的低收入父母正在为让孩子尽可能接受高等教育而承受过于沉重的负担。

　　For a rural parent in China, each year of higher education costs 6 to 15 months' labor⁹. A year at an average private university in the US equals almost a year's income for the average wage earner, while an in-state public university costs about 6 months' pay. Moreover, an American family that spends half its income helping¹⁰ a child through college has more spending power with the other half of its income than a rural Chinese family earning less than $5,000 a year.

　　对于中国的农村父母来说，每一年的高等教育要花费6到15个月的劳动所得。在美国，中等私立大学每年所需费用，基本等同于美国平均收入者1年的工资，而本州的公立大学开销则约等于6个月收入。此外，一个每年拿出一半收入供孩子上大学的美国家庭，其另一半收入的购买力要强于一个年收入少于5000美元的中国农村家庭。

　　Yet a college degree no longer ensures a well-paying job, because the number of graduates in China has quadrupled in the last decade.

　　然而，大学学位已经不能再保证一份高薪工作——中国大学毕业生人数已经在过去10年里翻了两番。

1 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 toiling   

长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉

参考例句：

• The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
• She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎，心中涌满愤恨。

3 treadmill   

n.踏车；单调的工作

参考例句：

• The treadmill has a heart rate monitor.跑步机上有个脉搏监视器。
• Drugs remove man from the treadmill of routine.药物可以使人摆脱日常单调的工作带来的疲劳。

4 optimize   

v.使优化 [=optimise]

参考例句：

• We should optimize the composition of the Standing Committees.优化人大常委会组成人员的结构。
• We should optimize our import mix and focus on bringing in advanced technology and key equipment.优化进口结构，着重引进先进技术和关键设备。

5 tardy   

adj.缓慢的，迟缓的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。

6 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

7 leniency   

n.宽大（不严厉）

参考例句：

• udges are advised to show greater leniency towards first-time offenders.建议法官对初犯者宽大处理。
• Police offer leniency to criminals in return for information.警方给罪犯宽大处理以换取情报。

8 patronage   

n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场

参考例句：

• Though it was not yet noon,there was considerable patronage.虽然时间未到中午，店中已有许多顾客惠顾。
• I am sorry to say that my patronage ends with this.很抱歉，我的赞助只能到此为止。

9 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。