摸底考試

Susan著 小哭譯

今天上午我剛剛考了摸底考試！這是一次有趣兒的經歷。雖說有點枯燥，但是總體來講還是很有趣兒。因為我從來沒有參加過和這麼多的人（大約700人）一起考的試，也從來沒有在這麼大的一個房間（我們在體育館考的試）里考過試。儘管環境很奇怪，但我覺得答得還相當不錯。

這段時間以來，老師們一直在跟我們講摸底考試的事情。這個考試是讓高中知道我們已經學了多少東西，以及我們還應該學習什麼。考試將有助於決定我們需要什麼樣的課程安排。我認為，考試的結果（譯者註：指學生的學業情況）在考前就擺在那裡了，只是我們要麼已經知道了、要麼還不知道而已。因此，這事兒沒有什麼壓力，因為我們在考試中所需要做的就是展示出來我們的真實水平——我們真實的能力。那是我們無法改變的事情，所以有什麼好擔憂的呢？之前我沒有擔憂，現在我也不擔憂。然而我的幾個同學真的是很緊張，我不明白為什麼。也許可能是因為我確信自己會得到一個好分數吧。

網上有一些練習題，但是直到考試那天早晨我才找到。 從家走（去高中，我們考試的地方）之前我粗略地看了一下問題，感到很驚訝。問題比我想的要簡單得多！然後，爸爸就開車送我去高中考試了。他把我送到就走了，因為他不能進到樓里。帶上我的小包下了車後，我就進去了。

開始我還擔憂可能找不到考試的房間。但進去之後，一看到人們都在那兒我就不擔憂了。他們都在向着同一個方向移動，在一個拐角處消失，同時有更多的人從門口進來（這讓我想到河水是如何從一個方向湧進又從另一方向泄出的）。人還沒多到使得走廊很擁擠，卻也足夠形成一個穩定的人流。我隨着人流走進了另一個走廊，那裡有很多紙貼在書包柜上，上面依着字母順序列有我們的名字、學校和考試地點。

我覺得自己一個人看着這些名單有點奇怪，因為別人都有朋友。然而，我沒有流露出來不自然，就裝作我知道我正在做什麼的樣子，沿着牆邊堅定地邁着步子，尋找着我的名字。我的目光一下子就落在了一個同我的姓氏很相似的姓氏上面——CHOI。A.蔡，那個真是不錯的韓國男孩，一個搞笑、聰明和有趣的人。他的座位在體育館的109桌。我再往下看，看到了我的座位在106桌，也是在體育館。我覺得有點怪怪地失望。現在回頭看，我想我可能有點希望他和我坐在一張桌子上，這件事發生的機率有3%。還算幸運，他和我坐在一個區域裡。

幾分鐘後，體育館的門開了，所有的學生都沖了進去。我很震驚。我沒想過應該會怎麼樣，但卻肯定不是我所看到的那樣。巨大的體育館裡擺滿了桌子，大概有三百五十張，每張桌子的兩邊配有兩把椅子。我原來想像着四或五個人坐在一張桌子上，但是結果卻是只有兩個人。我不知道為什麼一張桌子坐兩個人，而不是一個人。隨着更多的人湧進來，我走到了我的桌子邊上，坐下來，等待。

106桌和109桌相距有點遠。雖然在同一排，但卻隔着三張桌子。A.蔡正坐在那張桌子的左邊。另一邊坐着尼科爾。看起來她對於不得不坐在蔡的旁邊並不開心，因為蔡是一個“讓人煩得要死”的人。聽到尼科爾的這個評價我不太高興。蔡是一個很不錯的人，如果她不能欣賞的話，她就不配坐在他的旁邊！過後，我弄明白了自己怎麼會這麼想。我意識到我可能正在將A.蔡當成暗戀的對象。

二十分鐘後，我們都安靜了下來。我們已經和朋友們說完了想說的話，現在每個人都準備考試了。我的搭檔和我在同一所學校，可是我卻從來也沒有遇到過他。他看起來挺好，雖然有點乏味。他沒有和我聊太多。我並不是報怨他，我也沒有和他多說什麼。等到我們都安靜了，老師開始給我們發試卷（實際上，他們已經把試卷分放在每排末端的桌子上了。那些試卷上面有一堆我們所需要的雜物，坐在那些桌子上的學生們負責派發）。然後，他們開始給我們一步步地介紹我們在試卷上要填的空格以及什麼空格要留在那裡。這是件很枯燥的事兒。我們不得不非常地小心，不要填借行，也不要答錯問題。我覺得他們應該把那些不需要我們回答的問題拿走，省掉我們這份辛苦。

有一些行很容易填寫，比如“姓名”、“學校”或“出生日期”。也有一些很難填寫，比如“你父母的受教育程度”（譯者註：我很意外Susan竟然不知道這些信息）。然後就開始了真正難寫的部分，“你在高中打算做什麼”、“選擇一個你覺得當你長大時最適合你的最好的職業”，和“你覺得這個活動怎麼樣：喜歡、不喜歡或無所謂”。最後三個問題很難回答，謝天謝地，我在暑假前已經想過了，所以在老師說下一道題之前我都給答完了。回答那些問題花了我們至少半個小時的時間。其中一個問題很搞笑：“你喜歡、不喜歡，還是覺得無所謂：開割草機”。哇，好像會有人喜歡做那事兒似的。

好了，到了考試的時間了。我們都可以站起來、伸展一下，從心理上做好準備，然後，嗖！一下子，我們又全都坐下去了，這次我們手上拿着鉛筆和計算器，考試了。

第一個是寫作考試。他們讓我們閱讀一段文章，其中有一部分標註了下劃線。問題都是圍繞着下劃線的部分，問的都是一些怎麼改進那部分的題。由於這部分內容與主題無關，可以將其刪除嗎？或者這部分的語法可以改改嗎？如果可以，怎麼改？可以將其放在某一個句子後面嗎？或者是否這部分就應該這樣保留着？我真的很喜歡這個寫作考試。我喜歡編輯，特別是編輯別人的東西，整個寫作考試就是編輯他們提供的一段話。這是整個考試中最好的部分、最好玩的部分。

40個問題只有半個小時的時間。過了半個小時，就考數學了。寫作考試我剩了五分鐘（他們每過五或十分鐘就告訴我們一下時間）。數學考試，我就沒有那麼幸運了。是的，考試很簡單，每一個問題我都非常地懂，但是做完總是需要一些時間的。最近我沒怎麼做過代數題，所以我在幾個問題上答得很慢。最後，我不得不去猜最後一題，因為我根本沒有足夠的時間做了。

幸運的是，考完數學後，我們又可以站起來休息十分鐘了。我用了五分鐘的時間在衛生間門口排隊，又用了寶貴的兩分鐘呆在裡面，另有兩分鐘用在了去衛生間的路上，最後只有一分鐘的時間和朋友說說話。他們都有幾道數學題是猜的，這讓我感覺好多了。

釋放掉這一個小時的考試所憋出來的那部分能量後（雖然這是相當有趣兒的考試。編輯文字和做數學題很好玩兒。特別是數學題。我有點沉浸在我做的那麼多的數學題中了。好像我不再意識到我所處的環境了，腦子中只有數學題。太有趣兒了），我們又坐了回去，該考閱讀理解了。開始前，老師給我們鼓了鼓勁兒，說是我們已經考完一半多了，讓我們振作精神。我吃了零食，看了看同一排的人都在幹什麼。蔡剛巧看向我這個方向，他咧嘴笑了笑，對我挑了挑眉毛。很古怪，但是很有趣兒。我們凝視着對方，最後，我突然笑了起來（當然，靜悄悄地），然後我們就回去看試題了。

和數學及寫作相比，考閱讀理解一點也不好玩。回答那些模稜兩可的問題很枯燥。然而，考的並不難。前兩個考試我沒有覺得無聊，但是這一個，我覺得無聊極了。這半個小時之後沒有休息時間，馬上就接着考科學。答完兩個問題後，我開始有點穩不住神了。

我無法專心考試，周圍的環境變化我都知道。突然間我意識到自己正呆在一個多麼奇怪的地方。這麼大的一個體育館，這麼多的學生，所有的學生都在同一個地方做着同一件事情。天氣有點涼，周圍很安靜……我覺得自己要麼是覺得無聊得要死，要麼就是會突然間笑起來。我能意識到正在發生着什麼。坐了這麼久，答了這麼多完全無趣的東西，我開始待不住了。我想從房間裡溜走，但是我不能，我不得不待在我的座位上。我覺得徹底絕望了，因為我還要回答二十個問題，還要再坐在這裡至少二十分鐘，幹不了什麼。我的屁股都坐麻了。最後，我回到了考試中，繼續做題，心裡卻煩得想喊。

到點了！！！考試結束了！我跑到朋友們那邊，一邊談論着我們考得怎麼樣，一邊向食堂走去，家長們正在食堂那裡等着我們呢。我跳來轉了一圈，覺得自己擁有整個世界的能量，等不及將其釋放掉。我從來都不知道無聊能讓我變成這樣。嗯，有趣兒。他們都認為考試很無聊，但是他們看起來不象我這樣憋得夠嗆。當然，我看起來也不是我自己感覺的這個樣兒。蔡就在我旁邊，但是我們沒說話。他很奇怪。有時，他表現得就象我們是很親密的朋友；可有時，他又好像根本就沒有注意到我的存在。怪怪地。

不管怎麼說，我找到了父母，和我的朋友說完再見，就離開了高中。過了一會兒，我突然間覺得非常非常地累。這個考試消耗掉了我許多的腦力和體力。但是，我想我確實做得很好。這真的是一個既好玩又有趣的經歷。

 

【小哭介紹背景】這個考試學校早就下達了通知。當時我只是在日曆上標註了一下而已。事實上還是需要一點準備工作的，可是我覺得那是學生們自己的事情，壓根就沒覺得跟自己有多少關係。Susan爸就不同了，一會提醒我是否填好了粉紅色的表格？那可是孩子考試的入門卷，我說還真的忘記了，於是趕緊給填好；一會兒又說，他在查看學校的地圖，研究#5號門在哪裡。我說提前一天開車過去看看不就行了嗎？正好那天Susan爸不上班，於是一大早送完小寶上學，我們就去高中采點了，提前了一周。在高中轉了一圈，感覺頗好。學校占地很大，停車場也很大，估計很多學生是開車上學的。

等到上周五的晚飯時分，Susan爸提醒Susan是否把考試的工具都準備好了。這個提醒可真的管用了！Susan說，放學前發現筆盒丟了，裡面有第二天考試指定的計算器，還有她全部的U盤等東西。唉，這孩子，怎麼這麼糊塗呢？這麼大的事回家了一直都沒說。我說趕緊，這才七點多點，馬上出發去商店買計算器吧，再晚要關門了。Susan倒鎮定，說是沒關係，就拿爸爸的好了。我說爸爸的是工程計算器，太複雜了，你一下子找不到按鈕，會有麻煩的。Susan爸也說還是去買學生用的吧，保險。於是一家人趕緊出門購物。

這和團契的活動就連上了，Susan必須得跟着我們一起去活動。最後回到家都十點了，加上Susan爸又讓她再多削一根鉛筆，東搞西搞的半個小時又過去了，我說再不睡覺就別考試了吧，還有比按時睡覺更重要的了嗎？晚睡的結果就是第二天不能按計劃早起，不過一切還算順利。Susan說，一些人很緊張，她一點也不。她說這就是一個摸底考試而已，考查的是學生們的真實水平，有什麼好緊張的呢？

我們家長在指定的時間到學校食堂等待，竟然有那麼巧，我旁邊坐的就是Susan最好的兩個朋友的家長。大家一聊 ，也都知道這幾個孩子是好朋友，於是我們家長就好像也是好朋友了似的：）後來還看到了教會的一個朋友，感覺，慢慢地，我們在小村這裡就開始紮下根了。

本來這周末Susan正在寫一篇介紹她的數學課的作文。她說數學課內容很少，沒有什麼好寫的，於是我說那就先寫這個考試的吧。她說太好了，她很想寫寫這個考試，太不一樣的經歷了。於是，就寫了很多很久。還說，沒有辦法寫得更少了，因為一下子考了那麼多科啊！

看她數學答得不夠時間，我就想“時間用在這裡就不在那裡”，數學上沒有花時間，當然就不熟練。考試的技巧很多是和熟練程度掛鈎的，雖然這個技巧在日常生活中作用並不大，但是了為了考試分數，還真得試着做點練習。這ELA的作業每天投入二個小時多，數學也就半個小時，確實在考試上就反應出來了。很明顯，Susan練了啥，她就熟練啥。她說寫作考試的編輯內容好玩兒，是因為他們的ELA課上，必須得完成兩篇命題作文。老師讓同學們先相互查錯，結果因為Susan忘帶了自己的作文，就非常認真地給別人編輯改錯。最後不少同學都讓她幫着查錯，因為ELA老師對低級錯誤的容忍度相當地低！威爾基女士在班上講，她會因為一些上級主管部門發的郵件裡面有語法錯而回信去編輯人家的郵件！而我所介紹的作者尼爾.舒斯特曼，他的一本獲獎書，就是請威爾基女士編輯的！

Susan說她很喜歡去編輯同學們的作文，但是她自己的作文就只能是回家自己給自己編輯了。她說得試着把自己的文章當成別人的才行，否則就不會認真地去查錯。當時我還想，這孩子咋這麼不會拒絕別人呢？明明是只查搭檔的錯，管那麼多閒事幹什麼呢？回頭想想，上帝自有安排，上帝的規劃我們當時並不懂。Susan做了她心裡想做的事，順從了上帝，於是便得到了上帝的獎賞：）當然，話說回來，誰能證明她順從的是上帝的安排呢？這簡直是無法說清的事情。也許她順從的是原罪所帶來的一種本能的“罪性”呢？無從得知。我事後諸葛亮一把，總歸結局很不錯。

還有，這個暑假，因為我從國內帶回了一本“人生設計在童年”的中文書，書中提到的一些議題我覺得有道理，於是開始和Susan討論她未來的職業規劃，問她願不願去了解一些不同的職業，想想她自己長大了想幹啥。結果她很快地就得出結論：她想做導演！不管行與不行，反正她有明確的想法，因此在這個摸底考試中回答關於理想的問題時，就不用在考場現想一番了。看來，那本書也確實值得一看，至少帶來了這樣的一個作用——幫助 Susan在考試伊始可以從容鎮定，不會一上來就覺得心煩意亂地。能夠平靜愉快地進行一場考試是一個很好玩的經歷，看她寫的作文，除了最後科學考試坐不了住了之外，基本上是這樣的，那就行了。

不知道是小村這裡學習風氣如此，還是整個伊州都是這樣，反正以前沒有聽說過高中還會在學生們八年級的時候就把孩子召過去進行一次摸底考試的。跟着Susan繼續了解她的校園生活吧。

附上英文原文：

            Explore Test

I just took the Explore Test this morning! It was an interesting experience. A bit boring, but overall interesting, because I’ve never taken a test with so many people before (about 700) and never in such a big room (we took the test in the gymasium). Despite how strange the environment was, I think I did pretty well.

For a while, the teachers have been talking to us about the Explore Test. The test is suppose to let the high school people know how much we already know and how much we still need to learn. It would determine what sort of classes we need. The way I figure it, the results for the test were pretty much already decided before we took it, since we either already knew it or we didn’t. Therefore, there should’ve been no pressure, since all the test was supposed to do was to show us the truth. The truth about our abilities. That’s something we can’t change, so why be worried about it? I wasn’t worried, and I’m still not worried. A few of my classmates were really nervous, though, and I can’t understand why. Or maybe that’s just because I’m sure I got a good score on it.

There were practice questions, but I couldn’t find them online until the morning of the test. I skimmed through the questions before I left the house (to go to the high school, where the test was taking place), and I was surprised. The questions were easier than I had thought! Then, my dad drove me to the high school and dropped me off, since he wasn’t allowed to go inside. I got off, took my purse, and went inside.

I had been worried that I wouldn’t be able to find the testing room. Well, I worried no more the moment I entered the building and saw all the people. They were all moving towards one direction, disappearing around a corner while more people came in through the door (reminded me of how the water of a river rushes in one way and out the other). There weren’t enough people to make the hallway crowded, but enough to form a steady stream. I went with the flow and entered another hallway, where there were papers taped onto lockers that had our names, school, and testing room on them in alphabetical order.

I felt a bit strange looking at the list of names myself, since everyone else had a friend with them. However, I swallowed my self-consciousness, pretended like I knew what I was doing, and stroded purposefuly along the wall, looking for my name. My gaze inadvertently landed on another last name, similar to mine. Choi. A Choi**, that Korean guy that’s really nice and funny and smart and fun to be around. He was supposed to be seated a table 109 in the gym. I looked further, and saw that I was supposed to be seated at table 106, also in the gym. I felt strangely dissapointed. Looking back on it now, I think I might’ve been hoping that he was going to sit at the same table as me. The chances of that would’ve been about 3%. I was lucky he was sitting in the same area.

After a few minutes, the door to the gym opened and all of the students rushed in. I was surprised. I had no idea what to expect, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what I saw. The huge gymnasium was filled with tables, about three hundred and fifty of them, each with two chairs side by side. I had imagined four or five people to a table, but it turned out that they sat only two. I wonder why it’s two people per table, and not one desk per person. More people flooded in, I went over to my table, sat down, and waited.

Table 106 is pretty far away from table 109. In the same row, but three tables away. A Choi was sitting on the left side of that table. On the other side sat Nicole. She didn’t seem happy about having to sit next to Choi, on account that he is “annoying as hell”. I wasn’t too happy to hear that. Choi is a great person, and if she can’t appreciate that, she shouldn’t deserve to sit next to him! Then, I caught myself, and realized that I might be developing a crush on A Choi.

About twenty minutes later, we all got settled down. We’ve talked all we wanted to our friends, and now everyone is ready to take the test. My partner is a guy from the same school as me that I’ve never met. He seems alright, although a bit boring. Didn’t talk to me much. Not that I’m in a possition to complain. I didn’t talk to him much either. The teachers waited till we were all quiet, then proceeded to passing us our test booklets (Actually, they were already passed out to the table at the end of each row. Those tables had a stack of all the stuff we need, and the students sitting at those tables were in charge of passing them out). Then, they proceeded to give us step- by-step instructions on what to fill out on the booklets and what to leave alone. It was tedious work. We had to be really careful not to fill in the wrong lines and not to answer the wrong questions. I feel like they should just take out the questions that we weren’t supposed to answer and spare us the hard work.

There were easy lines to fill out, such as “Name”, “School”, or “Birthdate”. There were also harder ones, like “What is your parent’s degree of education”. Then came the really hard ones. “What do you plan to study in high school”, “Choose the best career that you feel is best for you when you grow up”, and “What do you feel about this activity: like, dislike, or indifferent”. The last three questions were hard to answer, Thankfully, I’ve thought about them before during the summer, and I managed to answer them before the teachers moved on. Answering those took us at least half an hour. One of the questions was funny: “Do you like, dislike, or feel indifferent about: running a lawn mower”. Wow. As if anyone would like that.

Alright. It was time for the test. We all were allowed to get up, stretch, mentally prepare ourselves, and then WOOSH! In a flash, we were all sitting down again, this time with a pencil and calculator in our hands, and a test in front of us.

The writing test came first. They gave us a passage to read, and underlined portions in the passage. The questions were all about the underlined portions, and they all asked about how that portion can be improved. Should it be deleted since it’s not relevant to the main idea? Should it be grammatically changed? And if yes, how? Should it be placed after the next sentence? Or should it just remain as it is? I really liked the writing test. I like editting, especially edditing somebody else’s writing, and the whole writing test was about editing the passages they provided. It was the best the more fun test out of all of them.

Only half an hour for 40 questions. Half an hour later, it was time for the math. I had finished the writing test with five minutes to spare (they tell us the time every ten or five minutes). With the math test, I was not that lucky. Yes, the test was easy, I could thoroughly understand every problem, but it took a while to do a some of them. I haven’t done much algabratic equations lately, so I was slow on a few of those problems. In the end, I had to guess on the last question, because I did not have enough time to do it.

Fortunately, after the math test, we were allowed to get up and take a ten-minute break. I spend a good five minutes of that break waiting in line for the bathroom, another good two minutes in the bathroom, another two minutes walking to and back from the bathroom, and only about one minute talking with my friends. They all guessed on a few problems for the math test, and that made me feel better.

After releasing some of that pent-up energy from a whole hour of testing (it was pretty fun testing though. Editing writings and doing math problems is fun. Especially the math problems. I go into sort of a trance when I’m doing a lot of math. It’s like I’m not aware of my surroundings anymore, just the math problem. It’s fun), we sat back down again to do the reading comprehension test. Before it started, the teachers gave us sort of a pep talk about how we’re more than halfway through and to keep our spirits up. I ate my snack, and looked down the row to see how other people were doing. Choi just happened to be looking in my direction, and he grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at me. Weird, but funny. We stared at eachother, and finally, I bursted out laughing (quietly, of course) and we looked back to our tests.

The reading comprehension test was nowhere as fun as the math or writing. It was boring, answering those ambiguous questions. However, it wasn’t really hard. I hadn’t feel bored for the last two tests, but on that one, I got bored as hell. We got no break after that half-hour of testing, and the science test came next. About two questions into the test, I was getting a little bit hyper.

I couldn’t pay attention to the test, and became highly aware of my surrounding. I suddenly realized what a strange place I was in. Such a huge gymnasium, with so many students, and all the students doing the exact same things in the exact same possitions. It was a bit cold, and so very quiet… I felt like I wanted to either die of boredom or burst out laughing. I realized what was happening. I was getting hyper from sitting down for so long and doing something so utterly boring for more than half an hour. I felt like I wanted to bolt from the room, but I knew I couldn’t, and I had to stay in my seat. I felt utterly hopeless, since I still had twenty-something questions to do, and at least twenty more minutes of sitting there in my seat not doing anything. My bottom felt numb. Finally, I turned back to the test and kept on working, mentally shouting in boredom.

FINALLY!!! THE TEST WAS OVER! I ran over to my friends and we talked about how we did on the way to the cafeteria, where the parents were waiting. I jumped around, feeling like I had all the energy in the world, and I couldn’t wait to let all of it out. I never knew boredom can do that to me. Huh, interesting. They all thought the test was boring, but they didn’t seem as hyper as I felt. Of course, I didn’t look as hyper as I felt either. Choi was right behind me, but we didn’t talk to eachother. He’s strange. Sometimes, he acts like as if we’re close friend, and other times, he seems to just not notice me. Weird.

Anyway, I found my parents, said goodbye to my friends, and left the high school. After a while, I suddenly felt really, really tired. That test took a lot out of me, mentally and physically. I think I did really good on it though. It was a really fun and interesting experience.