為美國高校提供中國事務(wù)咨詢的公司Zinch China在2010年發(fā)布了一份報告，根據(jù)對250名準(zhǔn)備赴美留學(xué)的北京高中生、他們的家長以及12位留學(xué)中介和升學(xué)顧問的采訪寫成。該公司得出結(jié)論認(rèn)為，90%的中國申請人提交了假推薦信，70%讓別人代寫個人陳述，50%偽造了高中成績單，還有10%列舉了他們沒有獲得過的學(xué)業(yè)獎項和其他成就。報告預(yù)計，隨著更多學(xué)生前往美國，“申請造假的浪潮”可能只會惡化。

Tom Melcher, Zinch China’s chairman and the report’s author, says it’s simplistic to vilify agents who provide these services. They’re responding, he says, to the demands of students and parents.

Zinch China公司主席、該報告的作者湯姆·麥徹（TomMelcher）說，詆毀那些提供這類服務(wù)的中介又顯得把事情簡單化了。他表示，中介是在滿足學(xué)生和家長的需求。

Students in China’s test-centric culture spend most of their high school years studying for the gao kao, the college entrance exam that is the sole determining factor in whether students win a coveted spot at one of China’s oversubscribed universities. So it’s not unusual for those who want to study in the United States to spend months cramming for the SAT and the Test of English as a Foreign Language, or Toefl, which most campuses require for admission.

在中國以考試為中心的文化里，學(xué)生把高中的大部分時間都用來備戰(zhàn)高考。他們能否入讀已經(jīng)人滿為患的大學(xué)，高考成績是唯一決定因素。因此，對于那些想要去美國留學(xué)的人來說，花費幾個月時間臨時抱佛腳準(zhǔn)備SAT大學(xué)入學(xué)考試和托福（TOEFL）并不罕見，因為大多數(shù)學(xué)校都要求這兩項成績。

Patricia J. Parker, assistant director of admissions at Iowa State, which enrolls more than 1,200 Chinese undergraduates, says students have proudly told her about memorizing thousands of vocabulary words, studying scripted responses to verbal questions and learning shortcuts that help them guess correct answers.

愛荷華州立大學(xué)有超過1200名中國本科生就讀。該校的錄取主任助理帕特麗夏·帕克（PatriciaJ. Parker）說，學(xué)生們會得意地告訴她自己記住了成千上萬個單詞、正在研究詞匯問題的答題套路、學(xué)習(xí)猜測正確答案的捷徑。

She has seen conditionally admitted students increase their Toefl scores by 30 or 40 points, out of a possible 120, after a summer break, despite no significant improvement in their ability to speak English. Her students, she says, don’t see this intense test-prepping as problematic: “They think the goal is to pass the test. They’re studying for the test, not studying English.”

她曾看到一些有條件錄取的學(xué)生會在暑假之后，在滿分為120分的托?？荚囍邪殉煽兲岣吡?0到40分，而他們的英語口語能力卻并沒有明顯提高。她說，學(xué)生們并不覺得這種強化備考有什么問題?！八麄冇X得目標(biāo)就是通過考試。他們不是為了學(xué)習(xí)英語，而是為了考試在學(xué)習(xí)?！?/div>

Ms. Parker estimates she contacts the Educational Testing Services, the nonprofit group that is in charge of the Toefl, every other day during the admissions season to investigate suspicious scores. Like many educators, she would like to see changes to make it harder to beat the exam.

帕克估計，在錄取季節(jié)，她每隔一天就要和主辦托?？荚嚨姆菭I利機構(gòu)——美國教育考試服務(wù)中心（ETS）聯(lián)系，對可疑的分?jǐn)?shù)進(jìn)行調(diào)查。她和很多教育者一樣，希望看到事情有所改變，讓學(xué)生更難用投機取巧的方式通過考試。

At Kansas State this fall, several Chinese students showed up for classes but did not match the security photos that were snapped when they supposedly took the Toefl months earlier. E.T.S. says it takes additional precautions, such as collecting handwriting samples to reduce the chance that students will hire someone to slip in, in their stead, after breaks. If cheating is found, E.T.S. policy is to cancel a score, but the organization won’t say how often that happens, and where. Kansas State, too, won’t comment on disciplinary measures, but it has named a committee to draft a policy on dealing with fraud on the Toefl. Says Mr. Lewis, the international admissions director, “It’s very hard, sitting here at a desk in the U.S., to judge what’s fraudulent.”

2011年秋季，幾名中國學(xué)生來到堪薩斯州立大學(xué)念書，但他們的長相卻和幾個月前參加托?？荚嚂r采集的照片不符。美國教育考試服務(wù)中心稱其采取了額外的預(yù)防措施，比如采集筆跡樣本，來減少學(xué)生在考試休息過程中讓“槍手”溜進(jìn)來代考的幾率。如果欺騙行為被發(fā)現(xiàn)的話，該中心的政策是取消成績，但ETS不愿意透露這種情況發(fā)生的頻率和地點?？八_斯州立大學(xué)也不愿對處分措施發(fā)表評論，不過該校已經(jīng)任命了一個委員會來起草一份針對托福作弊情況的政策。該校國際招生主任劉易斯說：“（我們）身在美國，很難去判斷（那里）什么是假的?！?/div>

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