VOA慢速英语2015 中国动用无人机防止考试作弊

Chinese Officials Use Drone to Stop Cheating on Exam 中国动用无人机防止考试作弊

Chinese officials are taking high-tech¹ action against high-tech cheaters on the national college entrance test. In recent years, some students have used hidden electronic devices to communicate during the test. In an effort to stop them, administrators² in one city took an unusual step. They used a drone, or small aircraft without a pilot. The drone flew over two testing centers in Luoyang City in central China's Henan province. The drone was looking for unusual signals being sent to wireless³ devices.

Mr Lan, who only gave his last name, is an official from Louyang’s Radio Supervision⁴ and Regulation Bureau. He said the drone cost hundreds of thousands of yuan, or tens of thousands of U.S. dollars. He said the drone was as big as a pump at a gasoline station. Officials said that a large number of electronic signals over a testing center could mean that students were cheating by sending electronic messages during the exam.

A Henan province news website said that the drone recorded no unusual signals on the first day of the test.

Nine million students will take the college entrance exam, which started last Sunday. The test is known in China as the gaokao. This important test can greatly affect a young person's future. The test results are used to decide which kind of university a student can attend. Those with the highest scores have the best chance for getting into an elite⁵ university.

Students spend months cramming⁷, or studying intensely, in order to get the highest possible score. Many parents travel to the cities where the tests are given. They stay with their children during the exam, which can last two or three days. Students who do not do well on the test enter regional universities. Students who do not pass the exam usually have two choices. They can repeat a year of school and retake the test, or try to find a factory job.

Cheating is common because of the high risk and high pressure connected to the exam. Local media have reported on the problem of “surrogate” test-taking. A surrogate is someone who does another person’s work. Talented students from poor families can earn large amounts of money taking the college entrance exam for students who can pay.  More recently, students have been using wireless devices to get answers during the test.

The Education Ministry⁸ said Saturday that it had arrested 23 people for trying to cheat since last May. Students who are caught cheating can be blocked from taking the test for three years.

Words in This Story

drone – n. an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers

wireless – adj.  sending and receiving electronic signals by using radio waves

elite – adj. the people who have the most wealth and status in a society

cram⁶ – v. to study intensively over a short period of time just before an examination

surrogate – adj. a person or thing that takes the place or performs the duties of someone or something else

1 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

2 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

3 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

7 cramming   

n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课

参考例句：

• Being hungry for the whole morning, I couldn't help cramming myself. 我饿了一上午，禁不住狼吞虎咽了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She's cramming for her history exam. 她考历史之前临时抱佛脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。