Exam Skills Won’t Help You Survive Squid Game1

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Last year’s Suneung2韩国高考，又称韩国大学修学能力考试。had questions about Hegel’s dialectics3dialectic 辩证法。and Bretton Woods. But do they really matter? 去年韩国高考考了有关黑格尔辩证法和布雷顿森林体系的问题，但这些知识真的重要吗？

In the Netflix smash hitSquid Game,there is a line that resonates with most South Koreans: While boasting that she is street-smart and capable, the self-proclaimed silver-tongued4silver-tongued 口才好的；雄辩的。Minyeo says, “I’m totally smart. I just never studied.”

2The line stems from the widespread belief—not just here but in many other parts of the world—that being brainy and doing well on school exams are not necessarily the same.

3But in a country where 12 years of schooling can be summed up in a score on one crucial, potentially lifedetermining test, it resonates deeply with many.

奈飞热剧《鱿鱼游戏》有一句台词引起了大多数韩国人的共鸣。剧中自诩能言善辩的韩美女夸自己精明能干时说：“我聪明透顶，从来就没学习过。”

2这句话源自一个不只在韩国而且在世界很多地方都普遍认同的观点：头脑聪明和成绩优异未必能画上等号。

3但这句话引起许许多多韩国人深深的共鸣。因为在韩国，12 年学校教育的成果可能会归结为一次有可能决定命运的重大考试的分数。

The art of picking the right answer

4On Nov. 18, slightly over 500,000 Koreans sat arguably the most important exam of their life: the College Scholastic Ability Test, or Suneung.

5A day after the annual exam, a parents’ union held a protest in front of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education against the government’s ongoing education policies. The protesters were part of a growing movement that questions whether the country’s educational system can foster creative minds or equip young people with the skills they’ll need in the future, rather than just training them to do well on multiple choice tests.

6Among the biggest questions—both for the public educational system and the 9.3 trillion won ($8.1 billion) afterschool hagwon5hagwon 来自韩语，指赢利性校外培训机构。industry—is how well English is being taught.

7Critics say English education is often targeted toward acing6ace 考得很好。standardized written exams, like the Suneung, rather than improving students’ practical communication skills.

8Kim Jae-joong, the head of a local English academy, said English studies at high school focus on rote memorization because of the Suneung.

9Problems had long existed, but they got worse in 2018 when the Suneung switched to an absolute grading system for its English section instead of grading students on a curve7grading on a curve 指在打分的时候，将成绩按分数段区分，以中等成绩为中轴，向两侧的低分和高分逐次降低分布。通俗讲就是“两头少，中间多”。选拔性测验（如中考、高考）是一种难度测验，它期望学生的测验分数呈现正态分布（normal distribution），即比较极端的分数分布，从而有利于甄别和选拔。.

选出正确答案的艺术

411 月18 日，50 多万韩国人参加了可谓一生中最重要的考试：大学修学能力考试，或称韩国高考。

5在这一年一度的高考过后，一家长联合会在首尔市教育厅前抗议政府现行的教育政策。这一抗议活动代表一场持续升温的运动。该运动质疑韩国教育体系能否培养创造性思维或是让年轻人掌握未来所需技能，而不仅仅是训练他们做好选择题。

6对于公立教育体系和规模达9.3 万亿韩元（约合81 亿美元）的校外培训行业而言，最大的问题之一是英语教学成效如何。

7批评人士指出，韩国英语教育的导向往往是顺利通过各种标准化笔试，例如韩国高考，而非提高学生的实际交流能力。

8当地一所英语学院的院长金在中（音）说，高中英语学习注重死记硬背以应付高考。

9问题存在已久，但在2018年韩国高考英语成绩由正态分布评分改为绝对评分之后更加严重了。

10The move was intended to tackle the snowballing cost of private English education in the country, but the similarities between the Suneung’s English section and the English programs on the state-run educational TV channel EBS8韩国教育放送公社，即韩国国营教育电视台兼广播电台。led students to learn what patterns to look for on the test.

11“Since (the students) can access similar questions and (Suneung) sample sentences, they focus more on memorizing (the patterns) to ‘pick’ the right answers,” Kim explained, going on to say that he actually advises students against trying to understand what the text is about. “It takes much more than two minutes, so one needs instead to find clues that will help them pinpoint the answer.” Test takers are given 45 questions that need to be answered in 70 minutes.

12“We (educators) should consider the matters on the fundamental level, about why we learn English, and how English should be taught and learned well. This,of course, will take more than two minutes to solve.”

13As most students work hard to gain the skills to ace multiple-choice tests,exams have come to include “ridiculously difficult” questions to distinguish high performers from well-trained but average students. This has led to the Suneung becoming inconsistent with the secondary education curriculum.

10改变评分体系是为了解决英语私教费滚雪球式增长的问题，但韩国高考英语试题与国营教育电视台EBS 的英语节目内容有诸多相似之处，导致学生们都去研究考题中有哪些套路。

11“因为可以看到相似的考题和（高考）例句，所以学生更加注重死记（各种套路），以‘选出’正确答案。”金院长解释道。他接着又说，实际上他不建议学生费力理解文章内容。“要理解文章内容，两分钟远远不够，所以只需要找到那些有助于锁定答案的线索即可。” 毕竟考生须在70 分钟以内完成45 道题。

12“我们这些教育工作者应从根本上考虑问题：为什么学英语？怎样才能教好和学好英语？当然，这些问题并非两分钟时间解决得了。”

13正当大多数学生努力掌握选择题取胜技巧的同时，考试已经开始增加“地狱级”难题，目的是将高水平学生和仅掌握答题技巧的普通学生区分开来。这已导致韩国高考超纲。

14A major complaint over last year’s exam concerned a passage on Hegelian dialectics, followed by six questions about the passage. Other passages are also said to have exceeded the reading comprehension level required of high school graduates—for example, one on the Bretton Woods international monetary system and one on optical lenses for automobiles.

15YouTuber Korean Englishman9常称“英国男人”，是一名英国人在优兔上发布的系列节目的名称，主要介绍英韩两国文化。recently posted a video of British students in their final year of high school taking the English portion of the Suneung.They struggled despite English being their native tongue, as the reading comprehension section contains excerpts drawn from philosophy, literature and technical manuals rather than everyday English.

16When asked, “What did it feel like you were being tested on?” one student jokingly answered, “Not English.”

17“It’s done in a way every answer could be the answer,” said another.

The roots of the exam obsession

18In June, the Korean Society for the Study of Education held its annual meeting of 1,500 scholars from across the country. The theme was the present and future of education in the country.Naturally, its hyper-competitive, examfocused nature dominated the discussion.

14对去年高考的一大不满涉及有关黑格尔辩证法的一篇阅读理解题，该题包含六问。人们认为，就高中毕业所要求达到的阅读理解水平来看，其他几篇考题也已超纲——例如一篇讲布雷顿森林国际货币体系的文章，以及一篇关于汽车光学镜片的文章。

15优兔博主“英国男人”最近发布了一段展示英国13 年级学生做韩国高考英语试题的视频。尽管英语是母语，他们做起来却很吃力，因为阅读理解题并非取材于日常英语，而是节选自哲学、文学和技术手册的文章。

16当被问道“你觉得它考了你什么？”，一名学生开玩笑说：“不是英语。”

17“这种出题方式使得每一个选项都可能是正确答案，”另一名学生说。

痴迷考试的根源

18韩国教育研究学会于6 月举办了年会，来自全国各地的1500 位学者参会，会议主题是韩国教育的现状与未来。韩国教育的高度竞争性、应试性自然而然成为热议话题。

19Professor Yoon Pyung-joong of Hanshin University said that was a reflection of Korean society.

20Koreans tend to hold the view that“college entrance is the front line in the clash of the classes,” he said, adding that one should be mindful of the political and philosophical aspects of Korean education when discussing how to reform it.

21Almost regardless of age, Koreans live under constant pressure to outexcel peers, and exams offer the most cost-effective way to evaluate and rank people.

22In a country where well over 70 percent of high school graduates advance to college, getting good Suneung scores and enrolling in an elite university is proof of success—at least early in life.

23InSquid Game, protagonist Gihun’s weird obsession with boasting that his childhood friend Sang-woo is the “pride of Sangmoon-dong” and“graduated from Seoul National University with honors” reflects this same outlook.

24Of course, this is why the Suneung is considered among the most important days of one’s life, if not the most important. On the eve of last year’s exam,the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family10女性家族部，直译为性别平等和家庭部，是韩国负责制定政策以保护妇女、儿童和青少年权益的中央行政机关。announced that it would offer round-the-clock counseling for teens dealing with post-Suneung stress—part of an effort to prevent violence and even suicide.

19韩神大学的尹平中教授说，韩国教育的这种特性是韩国社会的一个写照。

20尹教授说，韩国人往往认为“大学入学考试（高考）是阶层冲突的前线”，并补充说，在讨论韩国教育体制改革时，应当考虑其政治和哲学因素。

21几乎无论多大年龄的韩国人都时时活在要超越同龄人的压力之下，而考试是将人区分高下最具性价比的方式。

22在韩国这样大学录取率稳超70%的国家，以优异的高考成绩考入名牌大学是成功的标志，至少是在人生早期取得了成功。

23《鱿鱼游戏》的主角奇勋没完没了地夸他童年好友尚佑，说他是“双门洞的骄傲”，是“首尔大学毕业的高材生”，也反映了同样的观点。

24当然，这也就是为什么高考在韩国被视为人生大事——高考日即便不是最重要的，也是极其重要的日子。去年高考前夕，韩国女性家族部宣布将为青少年提供应对高考后心理压力的全天候咨询服务，这是预防暴力和自杀的一项举措。

25At Global HR Forum 2021, the presidential candidates shared their respective visions on education, which ranged from an emphasis on smart teaching and learning technologies to reforms that would emphasize creativity over exam skills.

26Although they differ on policies,they share one big question: How should Korea prepare its children for the future?

27Perhaps the fate of the fictional “pride of Sangmoon-dong” inSquid Game, considering where his SNU diploma landed him, is a reflection of where Korean education is headed unless something changes.

25在2021 年全球人力资源论坛上，各位总裁候选人分享了各自对教育的展望，有人认为应重视智慧教学技术；有人认为须推行改革，强调创造力的重要性，弱化考试技巧。

26他们虽然在政策方面意见不同，但都一致关注一个大问题：韩国如何帮助孩子们为未来做好准备？

27或许《鱿鱼游戏》中虚构的“双门洞的骄傲”的命运（想想首尔大学文凭让尚佑落到怎样的地步）就反映了韩国教育若不有所改变的话会走向何方。