校園生活:令人"無語"的作文,觀點在哪裡?
Zhang Xiao was recently given a school assignment that asked him to write an essay about his ideal job. The 10-year-old Beijing pupil responded by writing that he wanted to be the head of a large business.
十歲的張曉（音譯）在北京讀小學。不久前，學校佈置了一篇以理想的工作為主題的作文。張曉寫到自己想成為一個大老闆。"You want to be a boss, that's OK. But you shouldn't end your article like this. You should write 'I want to do charitable work with the money I earn'," his teacher commented.
老師對這篇作文給出的評語是：“你想當老闆，可以。但作文不應該這樣收尾。你應該寫‘我要把我賺的錢用於慈善事業。’”Zhang's mother, Chen Chen, said she could see the point of the teacher's advice but suggested a different approach. " He's only 10. We've always instructed him to help those in need. But charity? I don't think he really understands the word at the moment.
張曉的母親陳晨（音譯）說，她理解老師的用意，但建議老師換一種方式給出建議。“張曉才10歲。作為父母我們一直都教育他要樂於助人。但要做慈善？我覺得他當時根本連這個詞什麼意思都不懂。”
Chen referred to her own bitter experience as a fourth-grader. She described "the weather, the attendee, who was chosen to raise the flag" and so on in a writing assignment on the topic of "Raising the flag". However, despite her honesty, Chen's essay was deemed "a very bad example".
陳晨還提到了自己一段不開心的經歷，四年級時她寫了一篇以“升旗儀式”為主題的作文。她描述了諸如“天氣以及升旗手”等方面，儘管句句屬實，但最後卻被評為“反面教材”。The young girl quickly identified the difference: The other children had written sentences such as "The red flag was dyed by the blood of the martyrs," or "The flag reminds us of the sacrifice the heroes made". That kind of sentences was missing from Chen’s.
當時還是小女孩的陳晨很快就發現了不同之處：其他小朋友都在作文中都出現類似“鮮豔的五星紅旗是用革命先輩的鮮血染紅的，”或“五星紅旗要我們銘記先輩們所作出的犧牲”這樣的句子，而她卻一句都沒寫。This is the unwritten rule for Chinese students: You can write what you think, but make sure it reflects your "positive thinking".
對於中國學生而言，這是條不成文規定：你可以想到什麼就寫什麼，但作文要反映出積極思想。The problems are really highlighted by the gaokao, China's grueling and life-changing college entrance examination.
在高考這一能改變一生命運、競爭激烈的考試中，這一問題更加突出。"The articles have always been highly stereotyped, but more so in recent years," said Qi Yongxiang, who has been an examiner for the writing exam since 1993. "There is not much diversity or originality, instead it's full of cliches. They write some beautiful sentences, but without making a point."
自1993年起便一直參與高考作文閱卷工作的齊永祥（音譯）說道：“高考作文大多千篇一律，缺乏創新，盡是些陳詞濫調。考生們羅列一些優美語句，卻無法闡明觀點。”Nowadays, the common practice is to prepare stories about famous people, adorned with beautiful sentences, and then find a way to shoehorn them into the essay, irrespective of the actual topic.
現在最常見的做法就是考前準備一些名人軼事，配上優美語句，不管實際命題是什麼，想方設法把這些句子塞進文章中就好。Zhang Yikun, one of nine million students who sat this year's gaokao, really know how it works。
作為今年參加高考的900萬考生之一，張一坤（音譯）對此一清二楚。"The teacher at the cram school gave us a list of 50 public intellectuals," said Zhang. “The examiners must have been tired of the popular examples, so we had to give them something fresh."
張一坤說：“補習班的老師給我們發了一份列有50位知識名人的名單。閱卷老師肯定對那些常用的事例感到厭煩了，我們得挑新鮮的用。”The whole system really kicks in when the children start their schooling.
孩子們從一入學，便開始受制於整個教育體制。Zhang's mother, Song Wenli, a Chinese teacher at primary schools, said she always encourages students to express their true feelings, but students have to point out in what way you are educated and inspired. That's always the rule in China, otherwise it's hard for students to get a high score.
張一坤的媽媽宋文麗（音譯）是一名小學語文老師。她表示，儘管自己一直鼓勵學生們表達真實情感，但學生們必須闡明自己是怎樣得到教育和啟發的。在中國這是不變的定律，不然就不能拿高分。However, there have been changes over the years. The past 35 years have witnessed a rise in diversity of topics and a decrease in the political implications of the essays in the gaokao.
然而，這一現象近年來已有所改觀。在過去的35年間，高考作文題目的多樣性有所增加，其中的政治內涵也有所淡化。But, it's still hard for students to express themselves freely under the current education system, especially when faced with the high pressure exerted by the entrance exam, said Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a non-governmental research group.
21世紀教育研究院副院長熊丙奇表示，儘管如此，在現有的教育體制下，學生們還是很難自由表達情感，尤其是當面臨升學考試帶來的巨大壓力時更是如此。"The writing test was originally designed to display a student's independent thinking and writing skills. But now, they just try their best to cater to the examiner," said Xiong.
熊丙奇說：“設定作文考試的初衷是為了展示學生的獨立思考能力以及寫作技能。可現在，學生們只是盡最大可能地去迎合閱卷人的喜好。”According to Bi Yantao, director of Center for Communication Studies, Hainan University, his son once showed him a news report about his school's sports activity, which was not really part of the school's daily routine and merely arranged for the article. The teachers taught the children how to falsify facts for the reporters.
海南大學傳播學研究中心主任畢研韜說，他的兒子曾經給他看過一則有關他學校體育活動的新聞報道，而這些並沒有納入校園日常活動，而是為了這篇文章刻意安排的。老師們甚至還教孩子們怎麼去捏造事實，應付記者。"How can we expect the children to be sincere while the adults are liars?" asked Bi.
畢研韜說：“大人都在撒謊，我們怎麼指望孩子們誠實呢？”That question has also perplexed Chen Chen. She has always taught her son to write freely, but that means his scores have not been good.
這個問題也困擾著陳晨。她一直教兒子寫作時要自由發揮，但這就意味著兒子的作文成績一直不好。She is now considering a compromise to ensure that he can win a place at a top-ranked middle school.
為了確保兒子能夠升入重點中學，她現在正在考慮是否做出妥協。"I don't want him to be a liar. But I don't want him to be treated unfairly, either," she said.
她說：“我不想兒子撒謊。可我也不想他遭遇不公平的待遇。”
