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Every year, Chinese newspapers fill up with tragic tales of exam-time suicides. "The gaokao is about the most pressure-packed examination in the world," says Ari Wolfe, an English teacher in Guangzhou who tutored students for last weekend's exam, "given the numbers, the repercussions, and the stress involved." </p>
<p>Chinese cities ground to a standstill during this year's gaokao, moved up a month to avoid the oppressive summer heat. In some cities, police cars were barred from using their sirens during testing hours, and taxis were given yellow signs allowing them right of way when delivering examinees to their test sites. In others, construction was halted at night for fear that the clangs and booms might stand in the way of a good night's sleep. In Tianjin, China's third-biggest metropolis, doctors reportedly prescribed birth control pills to female test-takers whose parents feared that an untimely period would prove distracting.
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With stakes so high, the Chinese government guards each year's questions as if they were plans for nuclear weapons. Exam authors are confined to secret compounds while the test is being written, while the printing is carried out by inmates at maximum-security prisons. This year, the northeastern province of Liaoning forked out an estimated $13 million on metal detectors and cameras to discourage would-be cheaters. The penalties are severe: a student convicted of peeking at a neighbor's paper is never allowed to take the gaokao again, and his name is entered in a public database for prospective employers' perusal.
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<p>That's so scary! I don't know if I'd be able to do it...</p>
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Chinese cities ground to a standstill during this year's gaokao, moved up a month to avoid the oppressive summer heat.
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<p>. . . that's scary. Can you imagine College Board saying "Oh, yeah, and the APs are going to be in April this year, kthxbye"? But so much worse . . .</p>
<p>aikomidori, I'd however say that it's NOT as intense as it's in China......but yeah, it's also quite strict out there too. </p>
<p>quaere, I think soon there will be a time when all of us have to take the exams (of any major kind like SATs, ACT, and APs) during mid December to mid February! (gLoBaL wArMiNg!!!) Am I not right? :D</p>
<p>^ Ya because EVERYONE in India can afford a few thousand dollars just for an exam paper. Also did you read the article, apparently this was the first time the exams were cancelled (so I'm assuming this if the first time the CAT was leaked...)</p>
<p>Contrary to Abhi's claims it actually does happen in India. Only last week I read 2 article on TimesofIndia, one about a kid who scored only 91% on CBSE Exams and the other about this kid who failed the exams. An increasing amount of 7th and 8th graders ("Board" Exams are in 7th for State Syllabus Student and in 8th for CBSE Students) also are committing suicides. It's like of sad of how these kids think Academics are the only part in Life.</p>
<p>My penpal in China had to take the gaokao, and it is very stressful, like the article says. Many sleepless nights, missed meals, etc. It's an annual thing, so if you don't do well this year, you'll have to wait a whole year to take it again.</p>
<p>My parents were in the first class to try to get into college after the Cultural Revolution when 1 out of 40 kids so much as got into college. From that point, people were assigned to careers/schools based on how they scored (my dad fared not so well, my mom much much beter)... and from my dad's dissatisfaction came the need to immigrate to America.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, they totally shrug off America's college admissions frenzy... and they're not very comforting when it comes to me, lol.</p>
<p>well what can you do about it? the exam may come under criticism, but holistic admissions in a place like China, which has been plagued with years of corruption, can only invite more criticism and will perhaps worsen the situation. in addition, colleges will never be able to review essays and recommendations and whatever of the applicants - there are simply far too many. there are more good colleges in U.S. than there are colleges in China. the Chinese government will have to first work on broadening education in general before they can begin to chip away at the gaokao.</p>
<p>"the printing is carried out by inmates at maximum-security prisons" - More like slave labor exploited from political prisoners and the religiously persecuted. </p>
<p>Anyway, good luck for those Asian people. In those countries, failure to get into a good college of choice is literally an end of all your hopes and dreams.</p>