Pratique du Shadowing: The Hardest Test in China - Apprendre l'anglais à l'oral avec la vidéo
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Deep in eastern China's Anhui Province, situated in a valley between the mountains, is a small town called Mao Zanchang.
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Of the hundreds of cities and thousands of towns and villages in the world's most populous country, Mao Tanchang is, without a doubt,
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the most boring of them all.
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Unlike even the drabbest of industrial mining or factory towns, here, there's nothing even resembling entertainment.
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No bowling alleys, theaters, water parks, bars, or internet cafes.
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A game shop once opened, but was promptly forced to close after locals led a boycott.
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Its busiest places - a post office,
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grocery store, and a few scattered restaurants - close early and stay quiet enough that they could only be doing so intentionally.
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But make no mistake: Mao Tanchang is not a forgotten pit stop, slowly fading away to history.
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Actually, just the opposite.
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Thousands flock to this 4 ,000 -person town, hours away from any major city one with no historical or religious significance.
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Though there are no jobs to be had, there is a factory, some would argue, though not the kind you'd expect.
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Its private high school is known, across China, as a so -called "study factory",
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where parents bring their children to prepare for the most important exam of their lives.
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Its remote location and lifeless streets are deliberate features.
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There's simply nothing to do but study.
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As the town has grown in prominence, its population has doubled, from 4 to 8 ,000, the new residents being the families of test -takers,
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who, in turn, drive real estate prices sky -high and consume roughly 90 % of the local economy.
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The test is called the gaokao.
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Gao meaning "high" as in higher education, i .e university, and cao meaning "exam".
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These days, around 10 million third -year high school students, graduating seniors in the Chinese education system, take the test each year,
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making it a candidate for the largest anywhere on earth.
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In normal years, the 9 -hour exam begins on June 7th and lasts 2 or 3 days, depending on the province.
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Although the exam is coordinated and synced across the whole of China, excluding the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau,
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the questions and logistics are arranged by each province and provincial -level city.
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For most students, it consists of math, Chinese, and a foreign language - usually English,
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but alternatively Japanese, Russian, or French - plus his or her choice of either humanities, which includes geography, history, and politics,
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or science, meaning biology, chemistry, and physics.
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The questions are mainly multiple choice and short answers, though the Chinese section includes an essay, scored by two random graders.
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Before or afterward, students list the schools they wish to attend.
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By the time scores are released in July, provincial authorities have negotiated their quota for admission to each university,
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which determines its lowest accepted score.
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The maximum number of points is 750, though anything above even 700 is considered legendary,
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thanks to its notoriously inscrutable questions.
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When all is said and done, around 10 % of students receive offers to one of the tier 1 best schools
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and 20 % end up in a second -tier school.
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The highest scores in each province become overnight celebrities, their photos plastered throughout their hometowns,
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parents praised on television, and their choice of school subject to much scrutiny.
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From a distance, the Gaokao may seem like a larger and slightly more elaborate version of the SAT, ACT, A -Levels, or JEE.
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but such an image would be wildly mistaken.
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For starters, the Gaokao is only offered once per year.
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Meaning, that if a student isn't accepted into one of his or her selected schools, of which there can only be a few, they will have no choice but to wait until the following June,
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which many do, sometimes several times over.
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To be precise, only about 8 of the 10 million test -takers are accepted.
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The other roughly 20 % are faced with a very unenviable decision.
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"wait another 365 days" or "give up".
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Parents often resent those students who choose to take the exam again, saying they drive up the average score at the expense of their child,
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sometimes despite already being accepted to one or more schools.
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Gaokao scores are also, in most cases, the only criteria for college admission.
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The concept of recommendations, personal essays, and extracurriculars are so foreign to Chinese families
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that they usually hire a counselor to guide them through this process when applying to an overseas university.
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The gaokao is very much make or break.
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which is why it has spawned such a lucrative industry.
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of which Mao Tanchang is one of the biggest benefactors.
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What sets it apart from all other schools, tutoring centers, and methods is that, quite simply, it really works.
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It claims a 90 % university admissions rate compared to the 30 % of its province as a whole.
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Of course, this success comes at a price, and quite a steep one.
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The campus is run more like a military training academy than a school, with 16 hours of studying scheduled per day.
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Everything is designed and optimized for studying.
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For example, there are no laundry rooms, electrical outlets, or, for many years, even hot water.
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Visitors, including parents, are allowed on campus for exactly three hours each Sunday afternoon.
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The security guards, who drive around on golf carts, ensure these rules are followed.
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Its real secret formula, however, is the way it meticulously ranks,
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rewards, and punishes its 500 teachers alongside their students.
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Their salaries are already higher than average, but what drives them to essentially give up on their lives, quit their jobs, hold off on starting a family,
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and move to the middle of nowhere, are the bonuses.
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If a student is accepted to China's famous Peking or Tsinghua universities, say, then 50 ,000 RMB,
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or about 8 ,000 US dollars, is divided between all of his or her teachers.
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A good educator, therefore, can easily double or triple his or her salary.
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On the flip side, the lowest -ranked teachers each year can expect to be fired.
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To many people, these descriptions elicit pity, if not outrage.
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Whenever an image or anecdote of a six -foot pile of books or the school's 16 -hour schedule goes viral,
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a certain fury follows: "How dare someone trying to pay to game a test?"
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or "What an incredible waste of young people's lives." In reality, the vast majority of Mao Tanchang students are not rich kids from the city,
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rural families who have saved for years.
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For them, the Gaokao is a route, their only route, to upward social mobility, and Mao Tan Chang is their golden ticket.
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Which is why, when the day finally comes, it's one of hope and celebration, not dread or hatred.
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To an observer, June 7th may look like the beginning of a festival.
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Parents book hotel rooms near the testing venues.
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Rows of buses full of students roam the cities, escorted by a parade of their families.
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Cars are forbidden from honking their horns, construction sites within half a mile are ordered to stay silent,
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and over one million supervisors across the country proctor at 7 ,000 exam sites.
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Then, on their final day, After their final stroke is written, Students overwhelmingly report the same unexpected feeling.
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Loss While these nine fateful hours have consumed nearly every second and thought of the last few years of their lives,
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if not entire education, the Gaokao also acts as a powerful goal.
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A singular milestone far in the future and yet close enough to always instill urgency.
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The Gaokao is not a thing to be romanticized.
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Critics rightly emphasize the unfathomable mental strain it places on students, strain which sometimes spirals into permanent damage.
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The years of lives it robs of every boy and girl.
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the unnecessary rote memorization which is never recalled.
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and the permanent destiny it prescribes to those deemed unfit.
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But such an all -encompassing task also provides a concrete purpose that drives students forward,
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and a universally accepted excuse to all failures non -academic.
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One can be bad at just about everything, and still be celebrated for scoring highly.
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In some ways, the Gaokao is a mask, hiding all accomplishments and challenges behind a single, person -defining number.
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And not only at the level of the individual,
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Social and economic inequalities are also rationalized and upheld by the meritocratic nature of the Gaokao.
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It suggests that everyone gets what he or she deserves, providing an excuse for huge differences in opportunity.
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And while there have been many moves to reform the Gaokao, and even discussions about replacing it entirely,
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the great irony is that those who suffer the most - families and students themselves - are also sometimes its most vocal supporters.
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To them, the Gaokao may be the hardest test in China,
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but it's also their only ticket to a better life. by Brian Kaplan.
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It explains what so many of us think but don't have the eloquent words to prove.
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About This Lesson
In this lesson, you will practice your English speaking skills through a captivating exploration of the challenging Gaokao exam in China. By listening to a detailed description of Maotanchang, the town famous for its study factory, you will learn how to articulate and discuss educational practices in English. This lesson aims to enhance your comprehension, fluency, and ability to express complex ideas related to education and examinations, which are common topics in various English-speaking contexts.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Gaokao - The Chinese college entrance examination, also known as the National Higher Education Entrance Examination.
- Study Factory - A term used to describe a school or institution focused solely on academic achievement and exam preparation.
- Provincial Authorities - Local government officials who oversee educational standards and university admissions in their respective areas.
- Tiers of Universities - Classification of universities in China based on academic performance and acceptance rates, often referred to as Tier 1 and Tier 2.
- Admissions Quota - The predetermined number of students each university can accept, set by provincial authorities.
- Extracurricular Activities - Activities outside the standard curriculum that typically involve students’ interests and skills.
- Recommendation Letters - Personalized letters from teachers or mentors, commonly used in college applications to provide context about a student's achievements.
- Shadow Speech - The practice of mimicking spoken language to improve fluency and pronunciation.
Practice Tips
To get the most out of this lesson, consider utilizing the shadowing technique as it relates to this particular video. Here are some effective tips:
- Listen to segments of the video slowly, then pause, and repeat what you hear. Focus on mimicking not just the words but also the intonation and rhythm of the speaker's voice.
- Pay attention to the emotional tone of the content. The speaker presents critical information about education with a serious tone. Try to convey that seriousness in your shadow speech.
- Start with shorter segments of about 30 seconds to ensure you grasp the vocabulary and phrases effectively before moving on to longer segments.
- Use this lesson as part of your IELTS speaking practice. Discuss the content with a partner, or record yourself to self-evaluate your pronunciation and fluency.
- Visit shadowing sites that focus on English speaking practice for additional resources or similar videos that allow you to hone your skills further.
By regularly practicing with these sophisticated themes, you will improve your ability to discuss educational systems and ideas in English, making you more articulate in conversations about global educational practices.
Qu'est-ce que la technique du Shadowing ?
Le Shadowing est une technique d'apprentissage des langues fondée sur la science, développée à l'origine pour la formation des interprètes professionnels. Le principe est simple mais puissant : vous écoutez de l'anglais natif et le répétez immédiatement à voix haute — comme une ombre suivant le locuteur avec un décalage de 1 à 2 secondes. Les recherches montrent une amélioration significative de la précision de la prononciation, de l'intonation, du rythme, des liaisons, de la compréhension orale et de la fluidité.