I should indeedÿbe veryÿpleasedÿwith this recent attention to the “sharp upward trend”ÿin Chinese student’sÿGRE scores. In 1995 when the GRE machine test was first started in the US, there seemed to be some interesting observationsÿof a similar kind. But that’s not why I’m writing today, as I am no expert in language testing theories and should have nothing to say about the “upward trend,” wherever or whenever it occurs. Withÿmy 15 years of experience teachingÿEnglish to Chinese students in one of the most prestigious foreign languages institutions in China, I DO have something to say about the high scores of Chinese students in standardized tests, a phenomenon of mixed reputations and my deepest depise, especially in the case of TOEFL and GRE!In China, any group ofÿregular students have toÿsucceed or survive a series of standardized tests in their school life.ÿÿThey study standardized tests to enter a “key” (which means “good”)ÿmiddle school; they study standardized tests to enter a Chinese university; they study standardized tests to “study abroad” (“liu xue”). These waves of intensive standardized test “studies” come every four or five years.ÿ All these tests designed in the same principle as the TOEFL and GRE. All the test preparations conducted in more or less the same ways: memorize all the necessary facts or words;ÿanalyze and practice exam itemsÿfrom used test papers or even simulated by experienced instructors, item by item; and take mock-up tests to get a feel of the real exam,ÿwith the timing, format, self-pacing,ÿanxiety control and all that. No one would ever feel any “unfair advantage”ÿin the kind of test preparation practice I described above in the Chinese context,ÿas every student has a chance to practice. Whereas if you put a highly trained Chineseÿstandardized test takerÿon the same exam (may it be TOEFL, GRE, or GMAT) with, say, an American student, the “advantage” of the Chinese will be obvious. Such tests are, indeed, “pieces of cake” for a well-prepared Chinese test-taker.It standsÿto reasons that those who can eventually land on a foreign campus areÿamong the successful ones with standardized tests.So, why doÿmany Chinese students arrive in the U.S. institutions withÿvery high TOEFL and GRE scores but lowish abilities in doing academic research?My answer is straight-forward: because they devoted most of their preciousÿtime into standardized tests while they were in China. I have long been watching in pain how myÿstudentsÿthrew their time, energy and intelligence into test preparations. My students knew myÿfeelings and asked me to understandÿtheir feelings. I tried.Theyÿare young, ambitious and anxious to see the world and learn. If standardized testsÿknock on a door that opens to a bright future,ÿthen they should do it.ÿÿMaybe their real educationÿdoesn’t have to start on my campus. Maybe that process will begin in their new-found landÿwherever their dreams take them.And here I am reading an EST letter, which is now certainly a part of their educational reality: “… theft and unauthorized use of copyrighted GRE and TOEFL materials” … “Not all individuals testing in the PRC have access to this information, and we have no way of knowing at this point which test takers may have taken advantage of this situation … We urge you, therefore, to treat all GRE and TOEFL test scores from China with caution.”I really don’t know if I allowed my students to enjoyed sweets or swallowed poison when I watched them chewing volumes of the TOEFL and GRE stuff. Would my senior group have any successful cases ofÿregistration into an American college? How are they to be scrutinized and how good should they behave to win a better chance?ÿAnd, what would they be learning about the United States and their future? I will sure ask them when I soon return.WANG Wei

Associate professor

English

ISU Fulbright Fellow

Beijing Foreign Studies University