Exam question leaked

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 16, 2004

Exam question leaked

Local police are investigating how an essay question from a national graduate school entrance exam was posted on a Website at Fudan University just minutes after the test began last Saturday morning.

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Local police are investigating how an essay question from a national graduate school entrance exam was posted on a Website at Fudan University just minutes after the test began last Saturday morning.

University officials said someone using the online name Martin posted the question from the English language section of the test onto a message board on Fudan's Website 22 minutes after students started taking the test.

As no one is allowed to leave the exam room during the first hour of testing, officials believe the question was leaked in advance.

"It is possibly a test paper was leaked from some unknown sources," said Shen Benliang, deputy director of the Shanghai Educational Examination Authority.

The question included two cartoons that students were supposed to write an essay about in English.

Investigators believe "Martin" is a graduate student at Fudan and say he found the question on a Website offering guidance for students taking the exam and forwarded it to the Fudan site, according to a report in newspaper Wenhui Daily.

They don't know when the question was first posted on the original site or how many students may have seen it before taking the exam.

While questions and complete exams have been leaked before, this is the first time it was done using the Internet, Shen said.

The two-day long entrance exam contains questions on philosophy, Marxism, Deng Xiaoping Theory and English among other topics.

Police haven't said what actions they will take if they find the source of the leak, or what punishment the guilty party might face.

The exam is growing more competitive as more and more students look to enter graduate school due to declining job opportunities. Many spend large amounts of money and time taking preparation courses for the test where renowned professors are often able to "guess" exam questions ahead of time with a remarkable level of accuracy.

"Many of my friends took preparation lectures organized by some training schools before the examination, during which lecturers 'give hints' about the coming exam," said Ni Na, a local student.

(Shanghai Daily news)

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