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Most major educational systems utilize some sort of standardized test for university admissions. The importance of these tests v

admin2021-05-24  57
问题         Most major educational systems utilize some sort of standardized test for university admissions. The importance of these tests varies between countries. In China, the result of College Entrance Examination almost solely determines university admission. It has been suggested that they encourage standardized test schools to "’teach to the test" rather than focus on the installation of pure knowledge. The followings are opinions on whether standardized tests should be abolished.
        Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should:
        1. summarize briefly the arguments;
        2. give your comment on the issue.
Wen Zhisa from rednet.cn
        Standardized tests are inherently arbitrary. They reduce an applicant’s entire academic career to a single one-day session. The result is an inherently unrepresentative test which fails to paint an accurate picture. What if a student has a bad day? What if they do poorly on the specific test questions? By contrast, looking at their entire academic record ensures that admissions officers will get a far more comprehensive picture of their actual ability. The law of averages means that bad days and tests will be balanced out with good ones, with the result that their academic record, the result of years of work, will reflect their true performance.
Peng Xingting from Beijing Youth Daily
        Standardized tests are inherently in favour of high-income students. Tutoring is an industry unto itself and the resulting rise in scores among high income students turns the scale against students whose families cannot afford it. By contrast, even if the money is available, the impact that tutoring can have on a student’s academic performance is limited. A tutor cannot write papers or take tests for them, and nor can they answer questions in class, or participate in sports or other extracurricular activities. As a consequence, eliminating easily tutored standardized tests helps even the playing field between richer and poorer students.
        In addition, the importance attached to such tests leads to teachers actively "teaching the test." The result is that many teachers, rather than instilling useful skills or providing a balanced curriculum, end up trying to focus on things that occur on given tests. This undermines the provision of education in the country.
Wu Lihua from Zhuhai Evening News
        All measures applied during university admissions processes are arbitrary to one extent or another. Grades depend on the whims on individual instructors, curriculum choices, and school quality. Every single one of the flaws the proposition applies to the Gaokao or other standardized tests may well be true, but the fact is that they are true for everyone who takes them. Gaokao is the only part of the application to a university that every single applicant will likely have been taken, and therefore the only one where all applicants can be objectively compared.
Xiao Shizi from Xinmin Evening News
        College Entrance Exams is mathematical and it is therefore possible to objectively evaluate them. They provide a benchmark of comparison across the whole education system in a way that any nonstandardized assessment never could. This does not only benefit universities in providing an objective measure to compare admissions candidates but it also gives the government statistics with which to measure the progress of schools.
        Any other form of assessment would mean switching to much more subjective factors. Traditionally such factors, such as extracurricular activities, volunteer work, and even access to references are all more easily available to high income students. Opportunities may not even be offered in poorer school districts. Complaining that poorer and minority students do less well on the College Entrance Exam ignores the fact that the test provides one of their best opportunities to impress admissions officials.
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答案 On Standardized Tests Many arguments have been made in regard to whether to abolish the standardized tests in the education system. One allegation against these tests is that standardized tests for college admission only measure a small portion of a student’s entire academic performance. Concern also arises about its inherent discrimination against financially inferior students, or the tendency that teachers have to "teach to test". However, defenders for standardized tests often bring forth some of their advantages and positive effects, such as objectivity and equality. As far as I am concerned, it’s unwise to abolish standardized tests at present. On this issue, I would like to point out first that the fundamental function of a well designed standardized test is to provide an assessment of an individual’s mastery of certain knowledge or skill. If standardized tests can be designed without bias, and to the greatest extent assess a student’s academic knowledge and skills precisely, there seems little doubt that we should maintain it in our education system. Our students come from different family backgrounds, different schools and are taught by different teachers. Only standardized testing by far can equalize all these settings and offer the most objective insight into many components of a student’s eventual performance at school. It is also important to note that a well-constructed test will examine that test-takers’ rudimentary ability or skills to apply what they have learned to novel problems and to make connections and inferences. For example, as with most cases of standardized testing, there is a limited time frame to answer all questions. Students are trained to improve their time management skills. In reality, standardized testing has its problems, but considering its current effect, abolishing it does not necessarily help generate a more objective way to assess the academic achievement of a student. So nowadays those tests are and should be the primary instrument to measure student’s progress in studying.
解析         材料就“是否废除标准化大学入学考试”展开讨论。
        前两段认为应该废除，并列举了标准化测试的弊端：它有其固有的任意性（inherently arbitrary），把申请者的整个学术生涯压缩到一天进行测试，不具代表性（unrepresentative）；贫困学生请不起优质师资，富有的学生更有利（in favour of high-income students）；使教师专注于应试教育（teaching the test），而不是教授有用的技能或提供全面均衡的课程。
        后两段则认为应该保留标准化测试。首先因为这种测试的精确性（mathematical）和评估的客观性（objectively evaluate）；其次，它既是录取学生的客观测量手段，又有利于政府评估学校的教学成绩；最后，和其他形式的评估手段相比，标准化测试涉及更少的主观因素（subjective factors），这其实是贫困地区的学生展露才华的最好机会（one of their best opportunities）。
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