新奇事件簿 剑桥大学考虑取消书面考试

The world-renowned Cambridge University is considering abolishing handwritten exams after 800 years. University officials may ask students to type their exam answers on a computer rather than use a pen. The move follows complaints from examination markers who say they are finding test papers increasingly illegible¹ due to poor handwriting.Academics say today's students primarily use laptops in lectures and tutorials instead of pens. Students are losing the ability to write by hand. One academic said asking students to hand-write exams actually causes them physical difficulties. The muscles in their hand are not used to writing extensively for prolonged periods of two to three hours.

世界著名的剑桥大学考虑废除持续了800年的书面考试。学校官方可能要求学生在电脑上打印出考试答案，而不再是手写。这是因为阅卷老师抱怨称，由于书写潦草，试卷越来越难以识别。专家学者表示，现在的学生在讲座和辅导课上主要使用电脑，而不是笔。学生们失去了手写能力。一位学者表示，让孩子们参加书面考试给他们带来身体困难。手部肌肉不习惯连续两三个小时高强度书写。

A Cambridge University lecturer, Dr Sarah Pearsall, told Britain's 'Daily Telegraph' newspaper that handwriting was becoming a "lost art". She said: "Twenty years ago, students routinely [wrote] by hand several hours a day, but now they write virtually nothing by hand, except exams." She added: "We have been concerned for years about the declining handwriting problem. There has definitely been a downward trend. It is difficult for both the students and the examiners as it is harder and harder to read these exam scripts."

Dr Pearsall says some students' handwriting is so illegible that they had to return to the university over the summer to read their answers out loud to examiners who could not read their writing.

剑桥大学讲师Sarah Pearsall告诉英国《每日电讯报》，手写已经变成“失去的艺术”。她说：“20年前，学生们经常每天手写几个小时，但是现在他们除了考试的时候几乎每天都不动手写。”她补充说：“多年来，我们一直担心不断退化的手写问题。现在绝对是下降趋势。对学生和主考者来说，这种考试形式越来越困难。”Pearsall博士表示，有些学生的书写简直太差了，根本认不出来，暑假期间必须重返学校大声向主考官读出他们的答案。

1 illegible   

adj.难以辨认的，字迹模糊的

参考例句：

• It is impossible to deliver this letter because the address is illegible.由于地址字迹不清，致使信件无法投递。
• Can you see what this note says—his writing is almost illegible!你能看出这个便条上写些什么吗？他的笔迹几乎无法辨认。