外國人眼中的高考 理想與現實的差距

Gaokao from foreigners' perspective
外國人眼中的高考

Allegedly the world's largest high-stakes test featuring cramming and intense exam preparation, the gaokao has been attracting foreign media attention. Curious reporters found some typical gaokao scenes such as the following.
由於被稱爲全球最大高風險考試"，並以"死記硬背"著稱，中國高考也引起了外媒關注。好奇的外國記者記錄下了這樣一些典型鏡頭：

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，劉奇超所有的心思都放在一件事情上，這唯一的一件事便是：高考。他每天學習14到16個小時，每3個星期休息一天。(《紐約時報》，2009年6月13日)

Three month,before the gaokao
高考前3個月…

Ma Li, 18, fits the profile of a final-year student toiling on the exam treadmill. She regularly puts in an extra 6 hours at home at the end of a 10-hour school day. (BBC, Jun 8, 2012)
18歲的馬麗是在高考機器上揮汗如雨的典型學生形象。她每天在學校學習10小時之外，還要在家再多複習6小時。（英國廣播公司，2012年6月8日）

One week,before the gaokao
高考前1周…

Families pull out all the stops to optimize 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)
每家每戶都想盡辦法幫助自己的孩子考試中取得高分。在中國西南地區的四川省，學生一邊在醫院吸氧一邊複習，以期提高注意力。一些女孩子則服用避孕藥物以防止月經週期在考試期間到來。(《紐約時報》，2009年6月13日)

The day of gaokao
高考當天

Outside the exam sites, parents keep vigil for hours, as anxiously as husbands waiting for their wives to give birth. A tardy arrival is disastrous. 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 leniency. (The New York Times, Jun 13, 2009)
考場外，家長們持續幾個小時地等待，就像等待妻子臨產的丈夫一樣焦慮。遲到則是毀滅性的，2007年就有一名學生遲到了4分鐘，她和她的母親在監考官面前跪下了，仍然未能參加考試。(《紐約時報》，2009年6月13日)

Tough reality
理想與現實

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 patronage or guanxi (relationships), the ticket to a university education.
1977年，"文革"後的中國重開大學，恢復了高考，其背後的想法是理想化的：讓一個來自甘肅的農家子弟與一個來自上海官員家庭的孩子擁有同等的機會；讓分數，而不是政治恩惠或關係，成爲大學教育的通行證。

But lower-income Chinese parents now endure too heavy a financial burden as they push their children to obtain as much education as possible.
但是現在，中國的低收入父母正在爲讓孩子儘可能接受高等教育而承受過於沉重的負擔。

For a rural parent in China, each year of higher education costs 6 to 15 months' labor. 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 helping 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.
對於中國的農村父母來說，每一年的高等教育要花費6到15個月的勞動所得。在美國，中等私立大學每年所需費用，基本等同於美國平均收入者1年的工資，而本州的公立大學開銷則約等於6個月收入。此外，一個每年拿出一半收入供孩子上大學的美國家庭，其另一半收入的購買力要強於一個年收入少於5000美元的中國農村家庭。

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，大學學位已經不能再保證一份高薪工作——中國大學畢業生人數已經在過去10年裏翻了兩番。