美國首個州立旗艦大學(xué)認(rèn)可中國高考成績
香港——每年六月，中國都有數(shù)百萬高中畢業(yè)生參加一場激烈的大學(xué)招生考試，即使他們知道自己有可能無法進(jìn)入頂級高校，或者根本進(jìn)不了任何院校。如果成績不理想，另尋一條出路進(jìn)入大學(xué)可能會花上一年或者更多的時間。
Now they may have a faster option.
現(xiàn)在，他們可能有了一個更快的選項(xiàng)。
The University of New Hampshire says it will start accepting scores from the Chinese exam, making it the first flagship state school in the United States to evaluate Chinese applicants using the results from that test, known as the gaokao.
新罕布什爾大學(xué)(University of New Hampshire)表示，它將開始接受中國考試的成績。這使該校成為了美國首個以高考結(jié)果來評估中國申請者的州立旗艦大學(xué)。
There are 377,000 Chinese students in the United States, representing more than one-third of all international students, according to the federal government. Since they often pay full tuition, they are an important source of revenue for American universities, which have been intensifying their efforts to recruit Chinese students.
根據(jù)聯(lián)邦政府的統(tǒng)計(jì)，美國有37.7萬中國學(xué)生，占全體國際學(xué)生的三分之一以上。他們往往會支付全額學(xué)費(fèi)，因而成了美國大學(xué)的一個重要收入來源。美國大學(xué)正在加大力度招收中國學(xué)生。
Erika Mantz, spokeswoman for the University of New Hampshire, said the gaokao program was meant to attract “outstanding Chinese high school graduates” after they get their test results in late June, months after the deadline has passed under the regular admissions process. Most incoming freshmen would have been admitted by the time Chinese students take the gaokao test.
新罕布什爾大學(xué)發(fā)言人埃麗卡·曼茨(Erika Mantz)表示，高考項(xiàng)目旨在吸引“優(yōu)秀的中國高中畢業(yè)生”，他們會在六月底拿到高考成績，這個時間超過了常規(guī)招生過程最后截止日期好幾個月。大多數(shù)即將到來的大一新生會在中國學(xué)生高考的時候被錄取。
The university — which had 781 international students last fall, almost half of them from China — has introduced a recruiting website in Chinese and English. Before the program for gaokao students was created, applicants who took the test would have to wait for a new application cycle to start in the fall. The new program allows them to start one semester earlier.
該校推出了一個中英雙語的招生網(wǎng)站，在它去年秋季錄取的781名國際生中，有半數(shù)來自中國。在這個為參加高考的學(xué)生而設(shè)的項(xiàng)目出現(xiàn)前，參加過高考的申請者必須要等到下一輪在秋季開始的招生。新項(xiàng)目能讓他們早一個學(xué)期開始。
The gaokao, which generally lasts about nine hours over two days, determines the fates of almost 10 million students, less than 1 percent of whom gain admission to China’s top universities. Students spend years preparing for it.
通常為期兩天、時長大約九個小時的高考，決定著將近一千萬學(xué)生的命運(yùn)，只有不到1%的考生有資格進(jìn)入的中國頂級大學(xué)。學(xué)生們會花費(fèi)數(shù)年時間為考試做準(zhǔn)備。
While the Chinese education system has been praised for its rigor — a Stanford study found that freshmen at Chinese universities outpaced their American and Russian peers by two or three years in critical thinking skills — critics say the gaokao incentivizes memorization over creativity. There have also been cheating scandals in recent years.
雖然中國的教育系統(tǒng)以其嚴(yán)格著稱——斯坦佛的一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國高校的大一新生在批判性思維能力方面超過美國和俄羅斯的同年級學(xué)生兩到三年，但批評人士表示，高考鼓勵的是記憶而非創(chuàng)造。近幾年也出現(xiàn)過作弊丑聞。
About 3 percent of Chinese students bypass the gaokao by paying to attend private “international track” programs that prepare them for standardized testing abroad. But their classmates planning to take the gaokao have little time for anything other than intense cramming in the years leading up to this rite of passage.
約有3%的中國學(xué)生通過自費(fèi)參與私立的“國際接軌”項(xiàng)目繞開高考，為他們在海外參加標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測試做準(zhǔn)備。但他們計(jì)劃參加高考的同班同學(xué)，在這個重要日子來臨之前的數(shù)年時間里，除了緊鑼密鼓地惡補(bǔ)做準(zhǔn)備，幾乎沒有時間做其他事情。
That single-minded focus isolates students from educational opportunities outside China, said Andrew Chen, the chief learning officer of the WholeRen Group, an education consulting firm based in Pittsburgh. It is rare for students to apply to programs abroad while also preparing for the Chinese exam, which takes place months after the deadline for most American universities.
總部位于匹茲堡的教育咨詢公司厚仁集團(tuán)教育總監(jiān)陳航表示，這樣一心一意的投入使學(xué)生與中國以外的教育機(jī)會絕緣。極少有學(xué)生在準(zhǔn)備中國考試的同時還會申請國外課程，中國的高考在美國大多數(shù)大學(xué)的入學(xué)申請截止數(shù)月以后才會舉行。
Students unhappy with their gaokao results can wait a year to retake the test, as almost 1.5 million did last year, or take a gap year to prepare for the next cycle of American admissions. The University of New Hampshire program would take a bit of agony out of the wait, with an Oct. 1 deadline to apply for admission in January 2019.
對高考成績不滿意的學(xué)生可以等待一年重新參加考試，就像去年差不多150萬人做的那樣，或者利用間隔年來準(zhǔn)備下一輪的美國招生錄取。而新罕布什爾大學(xué)的項(xiàng)目則可以減少一些等待的痛苦，2019年1月入學(xué)的申請截止日期給到了10月1日。
“From the student’s perspective, it opens a door,” Mr. Chen said in a phone interview.
“從學(xué)生的角度看，就是打開了一扇門，”陳航在電話采訪中說。
Like other out-of-state students, students admitted to the University of New Hampshire through the gaokao program would have to pay over $45,000 a year in tuition and housing costs.
和其他外州學(xué)生一樣，通過高考項(xiàng)目入讀新罕布什爾大學(xué)的學(xué)生每年需要支付4.5萬美元以上的學(xué)費(fèi)和住宿費(fèi)。
The University of New Hampshire joins dozens of European, Australian and Canadian universities, as well as a handful of private American institutions, that have been screening candidates using cutoff gaokao scores. The university reviews how students perform on the gaokao, and on an assessment of their English language skills, before determining whether they can move forward with the application process.
除了新罕布什爾大學(xué)外，還有幾十個歐洲、澳大利亞和加拿大的大學(xué)以及少部分美國私立機(jī)構(gòu)使用高考錄取分?jǐn)?shù)線來篩選申請人。決定學(xué)生是否能進(jìn)入申請下一個環(huán)節(jié)前，該校會評估學(xué)生在高考中的表現(xiàn)，以及他們的英語技能。
Ms. Mantz, the spokeswoman, said that although admissions criteria were still being finalized, students considered for the University of New Hampshire would most likely have to take the SAT or the ACT, a similar test, after their scores on the gaokao were vetted.
該校發(fā)言人曼茨表示，雖然招生標(biāo)準(zhǔn)仍在進(jìn)行最后的確定，但在新罕布什爾大學(xué)考慮范圍內(nèi)的學(xué)生的高考分?jǐn)?shù)經(jīng)過審查后，很可能還需要參加SAT或與之類似的ACT考試。
But admitted students would still set foot on campus earlier than they would have otherwise.
但與其他情況相比，被錄取的學(xué)生還是能早一些踏入校園。
“This streamlined process quickly gives feedback to students who need additional English prep, so that they can start on that path right away,” Ms. Mantz wrote in an email.
“這種簡化的流程很快為那些需要額外英語準(zhǔn)備的學(xué)生提供反饋，這樣他們就可以立即著手準(zhǔn)備了，”曼茨在一封郵件中寫道。
A similar program at the University of San Francisco allows Chinese students to bypass U.S. standardized testing altogether. A Jesuit institution with about 6,800 undergraduate students, the university has an early admissions program that allows June test takers to enroll as early as the fall semester, based solely on their gaokao score, grades and a one-on-one interview in English. Last spring, more than half of the school’s 1,600 international students were from China.
大約有6800位本科生的耶穌會大學(xué)——舊金山大學(xué)(University of San Francisco)有一個類似項(xiàng)目，允許中國學(xué)生繞過美國的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測試。該校有一個預(yù)錄取項(xiàng)目，讓六月參加高考的考生憑其高考分?jǐn)?shù)、評分等級和一對一英文面試，最快能秋季入學(xué)。去年春季，該校的1600名國際學(xué)生有超過半數(shù)來自中國。
On the program website, Paul J. Fitzgerald, the school’s president, said that although he was aware of criticism of the gaokao, it had the “advantage” of evaluating “whether students are able to master a given body of knowledge, as well as their ability to work hard and consistently.”
在該項(xiàng)目課程的網(wǎng)站上，校長保羅·J·菲茲杰拉德(Paul J. Fitzgerald)表示，盡管他意識到了對高考的批評，但它“有優(yōu)勢”評價(jià)“學(xué)生是否熟練掌握一個特定知識體系，以及他們是否具備刻苦學(xué)習(xí)并堅(jiān)持到底的品質(zhì)”。
Mr. Fitzgerald noted that the SAT, which serves as a basis for admission at most four-year colleges and universities in the United States, is also an imperfect predictor of college success.
菲茲杰拉德指出，美國許多四年制學(xué)院和高校用來當(dāng)做錄取根據(jù)的SAT考試，也并不是一個能夠預(yù)計(jì)學(xué)生大學(xué)成就的完美工具。
