VOA慢速英语: 台湾改革高考，促进创新

Taiwan Changes Entrance Exams to Promote Innovation

FILE - Junior high students study in a small cram school in hopes of success on their high school entrance exams, in Taipei, Taiwan.

为促进创新，台湾改革大学入学考试
Taiwan's annual university admissions tests are taking place this week. Tens of thousands of students are trying to give the right answers to math and language questions. High scores permit students to enter the top schools.
台湾每年的大学入学考试这周举行。成千上万名学生努力作答数学和语言类试题。取得高分的学生才能进入一流的大学。
However, these tests will not be in place for much longer. The current examinations require that students memorize facts in high school classes. They do not test critical thinking or creative problem solving abilities.
但是，这些考试不会持续很久了。现行的考试要求学生在课堂上记忆很多内容。考试并不考验学生的批判性思维或者解决问题的创造性想法。
Officials in Taiwan plan to change the admissions test to also measure imagination and the ability to innovate.
台湾官员计划改变这种入学考试体系，以期能够增强学生想象力和创新能力。
Taiwanese officials see the progress China and South Korea are making in the information technology field. By comparison, Taiwan is losing technology business. There is concern that younger people are afraid of the risk of starting a company or inventing something.
台湾官员看到大陆和韩国在信息技术领域取得的进步。通过对比发现，台湾正丧失技术方面的业务。现在还有个让人关心的问题：年轻人不敢冒险创业或者发明一些东西。
The Ministry of Education wants to encourage young Taiwanese to innovate. So, it will begin a new selection process for university students. They hope the best schools will start to accept people with new business ideas.
教育部部长希望鼓励更多的年轻人来创新。因此，会重新革新大学生的录取考试体系。他们希望一些好学校能够开始接受一些有新商业想法的人。
The new admissions policy will take effect in 2018. It will include personal interviews with interested students. The Ministry wants high school graduates to show they excelled outside of class.
新的大学考试政策会在2018年生效。新政策包括对一些感兴趣的学生进行单独面试。教育部希望高中毕业生能展示更多课堂之外的能力和想法。
Ma Hsiang-ping is the ministry's deputy director for higher education. She told VOA the new exam system will look for people interested in invention or starting businesses.
马尚平是高等教育部的副局长。她在接受VOA参访时表示：新的考试体系会更多的寻找对发明或者经商感兴趣的学生。
She said Taiwan will lose competitiveness if all the inventing is done in other countries. She said the ministry hopes new admissions policies will reshape the 12-year public education system. She said it should not focus only on memorization of facts but also on the growth of other skills. Ms. Ma said that the written admissions test should be used only to show that a student has basic knowledge.
如果所有跟发明创造都在别国完成的话，那么台湾就会失去竞争力。她说教育部希望新的大学入学考试政策会重塑12年义务教育体系。考试不应该仅仅关注记忆一些内容，还要培养其它的能力技巧。马女士表示书面考试只能用来说明学生拥有的一些基本知识。
Chang Wei-chun is a third-year law student at Ming Chuan University in Taipei. The student said Taiwan's educational reforms should carry into higher education.
常维春是台北明川大学法律系大三的一名学生。该学生表示台湾的教育改革应该延伸到高等教育中。
Chang Wei-chun said that officials should promote innovation in classes at universities. The student said many students will not risk doing inventive work because their university education remains traditional.
常维春说官方也应该促进大学课堂的创新。很多学生不会冒险做一些创新型的任务，因为他们的大学体制任然是传统的教育。
Taiwan is dependent largely on high-tech exports. The Swiss business school, International Institute for Management Development (IMD) made a list of the most competitive countries in 2014. Taiwan was at number 13, but Singapore was number 3 and Hong Kong was number 4. These numbers worry Taiwanese officials.
台湾很大程度上依赖高科技产品进口。瑞士商学院、国际管理发展学院列出2014年最具竞争力的国家和地区，台湾排名第13位，但是新加坡排名第3位，香港排名第4位。这些排名让台湾官方担忧。
About 300,000 students graduate each year from the almost 150 universities in Taiwan. The results of this year's exams will decide the admissions of 146,000 people. Many are seeking admission to the 10 highest-rated schools.
台湾每年大约150所高校中的毕业生大概有30万人。今年的考试结果会决定将会有146,000名学生进入大学。很多学生都想进入排名前十位的高校。
I'm Jill Robbins.
我是吉尔·罗宾斯。
Correspondent Ralph Jennings reported this story from Taipei, Taiwan. Jill Robbins wrote it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in This Story
annual - adj. happening once a year
innovate – v. to do something in a new way; to have new ideas about how something can be done
encourage - v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen
selection - n. the act of choosing something or someone from a group
excel - v. to be better than others
competitive – adj. of or relating to a situation in which people or groups are trying to win a contest or be more successful than others; relating to or involving competition
promote – v. to help (something) happen, develop, or increase
Now it's your turn. What do you think of the changes in Taiwan's system of university entrance testing? How is it different from or the same as your country's system for choosing university students? Write your comment below.