高考 mock exams for English and Chinese

[Scoobyqueen]

I recently bought past papers for the 高考 (Chinese University entry exam for Chinese students) and I was taken aback by how arbritrarily hard this exam for English is. The written part is packed with multiple choice questions on minute differences of the English language. I was unable to see how answering these questions correctly could actually contribute to making you a good speaker or user of English. Funnily enough it looked exactly like the HSK exams.

It may show that the Chinese exams are aimed at identifying the few very best students rather than as is the case in the UK identifying students who are capable at completing a university degree. As far as I know the Gao Kao gives you marks up to 650 and something, whereas in other countries it is a less than ten scale. The exam looks to me to put a lot of unnecessary pressure on these kids and has a lot more to do with being good at mastering the system behind the test.

Oddly enough the Chinese language exam the Chinese sit for the gao kao looked more approachable than the HSK exam at intermediate level but I have only scanned the first pages so far so need to see if this is correct.

Any comments on the 高考 would be appreciated. I find that entry exam scary.

[monto]

It may show that the Chinese exams are aimed at identifying the few very best students rather than as is the case in the UK identifying students who are capable at completing a university degree.

This is true. The number of the people who wish to go to the college is many times of the number the colleges can receive in China .

[renzhe]

Ever taken the GRE? The Verbal section is murderous.

[Scoobyqueen]

Monto - China does not offer any alternatives to University. This is the case in Europe where students can choose University and also other perhaps more practical educational routes that will lead to good jobs also.

Renzhe - I had to look up the GRE. Sounds GREulling. Is there only one answer that is correct or is it like the personality tests they do as part of job applications, where each answer provides a different trait? Are they like the HSK tests?

[monto]

China does not offer any alternatives to University.

China offers as many alternatives to University as it can afford.

中专、大专、职业培训、成人自学考试、函授，电视大学。。。

The problem is many many people are not happy with the alternatives.

[imron]

China does not offer any alternatives to University

Where did you get this impression? There are plenty of vocational colleges around (although many of them are seen as places to go if you didn't score high-enough to get into university) including many where you can go to learn a specific profession or trade - cooking, mechanics etc.

[Scoobyqueen]

Imron - I get that impression through observing the obsession by parents with going to University in China. They do not offer a "more or less equal" alternative to University. It is nearly always a poor alternative and the alternative as you mention has inferior status. This is why Gao Kao is so intimidating is my theory. It creates a big chasm.

[yonglin]

I think that in every country where you have a lot more people willing to go to university than you have university spots, you have to put a very harsh examination system in place. If you don't, it'll be even worse! For instance, A-levels in the UK have become easier and easier as the number of university spots have increased and more people have to pass them. If you're aiming for a somewhat normal distribution of test scores, you basically have to shove in some questions that no one can answer. Since multiple-choice questions can't really test skills other than plain facts, you'd have to ask about some really difficult little things to make sure that the number of people achieving a full score is minute.

So before you complain, you may want to consider if there are any feasible alternatives. Personally, I think that there are not. If you made the exams easier, you wouldn't have any tool to sort out those who are supposed to attend Beida or Qinghua. Although it would of course be desirable to make English teaching more meaningful and useful, testing - say - analytical writing skills rather than grammar facts, you may contemplate whether China has those resources at present. I think not. For those of you who have an American approach to university admissions, I very much doubt that China will ever introduce a system where those with more leadership skills or extracurricular activities will get into the better universities. This is very much opposed to Chinese culture, and even us Europeans think that such admissions criteria are both unfair and quite ridiculous.

As for there being "no options", I just don't understand this criticism. There seems to be thousands and thousands of peixun xuexiao training people to do clerical and technical work, for instance. I think that's the same kind of jobs you'd end up doing in the west if you don't go to college?

[self-taught-mba]

So before you complain, you may want to consider if there are any feasible alternatives. Personally, I think that there are not. If you made the exams easier, you wouldn't have any tool to sort out those who are supposed to attend Beida or Qinghua. Although it would of course be desirable to make English teaching more meaningful and useful, testing - say - analytical writing skills rather than grammar facts, .

I think you answered yourself.

you may contemplate whether China has those resources at present

Not after half the teachers can't get visas now.

I think you are both right in some ways. There are other options, but they are not as highly regarded so I can see why some see them as a "non-option" if you will.

The da zhuan system could really be developed more. As demonstrated by all those peixun zhongxin's that are fullfilling the market need. Although I see many of them just taking students' money. But the students encourage it with the zheng4shu1 is everything mentality.

[Lu]

I think the difference is not so much in the presence of other options for further education, but in that parents, and thus their children, see university as the only possible way in which a child is ever going to get anywhere. Whereas in the west it's more acceptable if your child learns a less academic skill, be it nurse or hairdresser, if that fits the child's capabilities better. It's just a fact of life that not everyone is equally good at studying, but in China and Taiwan everyone is supposed to get into university regardless of their wishes or their brains. In China this apparently results in gruelling gaokao, in Taiwan it has resulted in so many universities that you can now get in if you just write your name right on the exam, and as a result a mere BA is mostly worthless, and if you want to get anywhere you need at least a PhD.

[xiaocai]

Gao Kao is just a tool to control the number of students getting tertiary education in China, simply because we don't have enough resource. I know it's very sad and we should let everyone who wants to and is able to complete an university degree to at least have a try, but I don't see it happening in recent future. As for the scaling system, I think there are more than just "the chinese system" and "the system of other countries", and if you take the number of students taking the entrance exam every year into account and you'll find 750 is barely enough to separate the students out, and therefore we also have to choose there “志愿” while taking the exam, which is just another means of restraining besides the exam itself.

I think it is part of Chinese culture that almost all the parents want their kids to receive a higher education level. It's been like this for more than 1000 years and very hard to be changed, even you know it's just a waste of already limited resources in some instances. And I think that is another reason that why Gao Kao looks a bit too harsh sometimes.

And talking about the alternatives, of course they are not in the same level as universities, or they'll just be universities. But as the reason mentioned above, we can't afford providing the same level of tertiary education to everyone and hence the alternatives with lower levels.