2016-04-06

【Aiden in English】

        The 2015-2016 school year is winding down. That really sucks because the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment or PSSA is also coming to town. Reaching the final stretch of school has taken a lot of energy, but not as much as the PSSA will.

        The end of the third marking period for the seventh-grade signals a ton of tests, including PSSA, Keystone Exam, End of Year Tests, and Finals. It sounds funny because it is! For those days, there are rarely any classes after the tests. For example, after most PSSA, the afternoon is basically spent on a movie or an activity, like a 3K. I understand this action taken by the teachers, as with previous experiences, PSSA kind of marathon kills the brain for 12 hours. The Keystones are the other extremely stressful test. They follow up the PSSA, throwing a one-two punch at us. Even though they aren’t talked about as much since only kids above Algebra I are eligible to take it, the impact of the grade is potentially more important than the PSSA. It seems a whole lot more intimidating as well. Luckily for me, I’ve already taken it from the last year, so I have a sense of the test. Although it isn’t a PSSA style, there still is a bad vibe every time the test comes around.

        Nevertheless, the third marking period was my worst marking period with grades. I mean, 94% in Science isn’t all that bad, but come on, and you know, Mom is an immunologist and it’s terribly hard after all. When I’m writing this, the third marking period hasn’t really ended yet; it ends tomorrow. The one thing I truly feel proud of this marking period was the fact that I aced English. Even if there is a large assessment coming through, I highly doubt I’ve got anything wrong. It was a writing piece, and well, I guess many of you can see why. Not to brag, but I can literally wing an essay in two hours in the evening and expect a full score. English isn’t that hard if all we did was to write. Obviously, it would require another side to balance it out, and the leverage was the speech. In the first two marking periods, I had an American child’s average or a mid- B range grade for speech. After receiving much help from the Debate class at Guanghua Chinese School, I flawlessly executed a debate in English, reaching a perfect score in speaking skills. The solid satisfaction of that accomplishment was one to be proud of, and it was even sweeter since my side won the debate.

        This marking period was Family & Consumer Science or FCS in our specials class, which was food cooking and sowing. I loved it simply because it made my grade look really good. Not only that, but also the fact that I’m usually still hungry after the gym, and I love a good batch of cookies or a spice of French toast. It’s the best class of the year, I think, and one I actually enjoy without any stress. Hey, maybe I’ll be a cook when I grow up?

        So, if anyone sees me walking around like a zombie next month, just blame the PSSA. The third marking period has felt like the first real challenge in school for a long time, and it isn’t because school isn’t hard. I feel the pressure of the future and what is upcoming, challenging me to strive with the flow of time.

【紅霞譯文】

        2015-2016學年已接近尾聲，其實真正滋擾情緒的是賓州學校評估考試在即，最後衝刺需要耗費大量精力，但無論什麼都沒法與賓州學校評估考試所占的比重相比擬。

        初中二年級第三學制結束意味着諸多測驗，其中包括賓州學校評估考試、賓州公立中學標準考試、年終考試以及期末考試，聽起來猶如其名天花亂墜，考試期間難得進行各種課業教學，譬如：賓州學校評估各門考試之餘，當天下午大家一般都在班上看電影或搞類似三千米跑步的活動，憑藉以往經驗，我理解老師的用心，連續十二小時馬拉松式密集應戰，腦袋瓜早已麻木得不聽使喚。賓州公立中學標準考試叫人透不過氣來，其形式與賓州學校評估考試差不多，裡面夾雜一兩道難題，儘管大家對這種考試談論不多，因為只有學過中級代數的學生才有資格參加考試，但它比評估老師教學水平的賓州學校評估考試更能影響學生個人總分，因此看上去非常恐怖。幸運的是，去年我曾經歷過一遭，所以對此心中有數。賓州公立中學標準考試與賓州學校評估考試風格迥異，不過考試壓力卻有過之而無不及。

        不知怎麼搞的，第三學制是我成績最差的一個學制，本來科學課94分算不了啥，可如你所知，媽媽是位免疫學家，古曰：“近水樓台先得月”，我反倒沒沾上什麼光。截止至此，第三學制實際上還沒有完全結束，明天才是最後一天。英語得了滿分令我極其得意，即使考試分量很重成績尚未公布，我仍有把握自己的答卷準確無誤。這回考寫作，我想不少了解我的人都持有同樣觀點，用不着吹牛，咱晚間花上兩個鐘頭隨便整出一篇文章準保拿個滿分。如果單憑寫作，英語說來一點不難；明顯地，這門課一定要有別的東西全面加以衡量，而綜合評定的槓桿非演講莫屬。在前兩個學制期間，我跟其他美國同學一樣表現平平，充其量算得上中不溜水平，好在經過光華中文學校“辯論”課錘鍊，終以出色的對話技能為英語辯論賽劃上圓滿句號，卓有成效的進步固然值得驕傲，但沒有比贏得團隊辯論勝利而更令我開心。

        第三學制增設了家政學，我之所以喜歡烹飪裁縫手工專業課，無非因為好混日子，不僅如此，體育課後我餓得飢腸轆轆，吃些新鮮餅乾或者法式麵包片定叫我心滿意足，我認為這是今年以來最受歡迎的課程，惟有這門課我從無壓力可言。嘿，沒準長大後我會選廚師為生？

        這麼說吧，下個月假如有人見我像一具行屍走肉，那只能怪罪賓州學校評估考試。初中二年級第三學制似乎第一次提醒大家要做好長期迎接真正挑戰的準備，這麼說並非暗指學校日子有多難熬。我意識到未來重任，隨着時間遷移，它正朝我走來並要我接受考驗。