China’s College Entry Test Is an Obsession

By SHARON LaFRANIERE     Published: June 12, 2009

TIANJIN, China — For the past year, Liu Qichao has focused on one thing, and only one thing: the gao kao, or the high test.

14 to 16 hours a day, he studied for the college entrance examination, which this year will determine the fate of more than 10 million Chinese students. He took one day off every three weeks.

He was still carrying his textbook from room to room last Sunday morning before leaving for the exam site, still reviewing materials during the lunch break, still hard at work Sunday night, preparing for Part 2 of the exam that Monday.

“I want to study until the last minute,” he said. “I really hope to be successful.”

China may be changing at head-twirling speed, but the ritual of the gao kao (pronounced gow kow) remains as immutable as chopsticks. One Chinese saying compares the exam to a stampede of “a thousand soldiers and 10 horses across a single log bridge.”

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我为高考狂

作者 SHARON LaFRANIERE     发布时间: 2009年6月12日    翻译 Lucy Wen

中国天津----过去的一年里，刘奇超的生活中只有一件事情，那就是高考。

今年的高考，将决定1000多万名中国学生的命运。为了准备考试，刘奇超每天学习14到16个小时，每3周休息1天。

上周日早上，在去考场之前，他还拿着教科书走来走去，趁午饭时间复习资料。晚上仍旧在拼命学习，准备周一的第二场考试。

“我想坚持到最后一分钟，”他说，“我真希望自己能成功。”

中国的变化的速度令人头晕目眩，可高考制度却依旧像筷子一样不可动摇。中国人将这场考试比喻为“千军万马过独木桥”。

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