老外考中国驾照 连考四次才通过

Recently, I decided to apply for a driver's license inChina. Since I already have one from the U.S., themain thing I had to do was pass a computerized test on the rules of the road here. I figured itwould be a breeze。

最近，我决定申请中国驾照。因为我在美国已经有驾照了，所以现在只要通过计算机里有关交通规则的考试就行。我想这还不是轻而易举么!

Driving and car ownership have taken off in China. Last year, the country added nearly 18million drivers. There is so much demand for licenses that I had to wait a month for the firstavailable testing date。

买车和开车在中国已经相当普遍了。去年，中国新增了近1800万开车族。申请驾照的人太多，我等了一个月才有机会参加初试。

The night before my test, I decided to take a practice one online. There were 100 questionsdrawn from a pool of nearly 1,000. You had to get 90 correct to pass。

考试前一晚，我决定先在网上练习一下。考试共100题，从1000个题目中抽取而成，满90分才算通过。

I got a 65 and started to panic. On the way to the testing center the next day, I crammed onmy iPad, but still only scored a 77.

我考了65分，不禁紧张起来。第二天去考场的路上，我用iPad又做了一遍，结果才有77分。

Why is the Chinese driver's test so hard? For one thing, it requires a ton of memorization.Consider this yes or no question, taken verbatim from a test:

中国的驾驶考试怎么这么难啊?首先，你得死记硬背很多东西，然后选择对错，下面就是一道原汁原味的试题：

"If a motorized vehicle driver has caused a major traffic accident in violation of the trafficregulations which has caused human death due to his escaping, the driver is subject to a prisonterm of 3 years to 7 years."

“如果机动车驾驶员违反交通规则并造成重大交通事故，因其潜逃而造成人员死亡，则驾驶员应判处3-7年徒刑。

The answer, it turns out, is "no." I eventually answered this correctly, but still have no ideawhat the actual prison term is。

可答案竟然是“错!虽然我最后答对了，但还是没搞懂究竟判刑几年。

The other reason the test is difficult for foreigners is some of the translations are, well,challenging. Take this question:

外国人考试难的另一个原因就是，有些翻译真是太难琢磨了!请看下面这题：

"When theres [sic] a diversion traffic control on the expressway, a driver can stop by the sideto wait instead of leaving out of the expressway, for continually running after the trafficcontrol."

“如果高速公路上出现临时交通管制，驾驶员不必离开高速公路，而可以停在路边等候交通管制结束后再继续行驶。

I don't know what that means, but apparently under Chinese law, you can't do it。

我根本看不懂题目是什么意思，反正中国法律显然不允许那样做。

'There's Something Wrong With That Test'

“那个考试有点问题

I wasn't the only foreigner who struggled with the questions. Others left the testing centershellshocked。

我不是唯一觉得题目难答的老外，其他人离开考场后也都觉得晕晕乎乎。

"It's impossible to understand what they're trying to say," said Hugo Ulloa, an internationaltrader from Chile, as we commiserated after he'd failed a second time。

“根本就搞不懂题目在说什么嘛。来自智利的国际贸易商雨果-乌略亚说。他已经第二次没通过了，我俩正好同病相怜。

A man takes a computerized road rules test at a driving school in Jinan, in eastern China'sShandong province, in 2011. Most Chinese people — accustomed to an education system thatemphasizes rote memorization — don't find the test as difficult as foreigners。

2011年，他在中国东部山东省济南市的一所驾校参加了上机测试。大部分中国人已经习惯了死记硬背式的教育体系，所以不会像老外那样觉得考试很难。

"I've been studying for two days," Ulloa continued, shaking his head. "Last night, it was likethree hours and I still cannot pass this. I'm getting really frustrated."

“我已经学了两天了，乌略亚摇了摇头说，“昨天晚上我熬了三个小时，结果还是没通过，我都快绝望了。

Jeffrey Kelsch, an American who runs a market research firm in Shanghai, applied for a licenselast year because he wanted to be able to take his dog, Dash, a West Highland white terrier, ondriving trips out of town。

杰弗里-凯尔什是个美国人，在上海经营一家市场调查公司。因为想带上爱犬西高地白梗“达西驾车去郊外，去年他也申请了驾照。

Most foreigners here can't read Chinese and people appreciate that the government offers thetest in translation. In Shanghai, you can take it in English, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Italian,German, French, Spanish and Arabic. (Foreigners must have a Chinese license to drive inChina。)

这里大部分老外都不懂汉语，所以很庆幸政府提供了翻译版测试。在上海，考试用语有英语、俄语、日语、韩语、意大利语、德语、法语、西班牙语和阿拉伯语，因为外国人必须有中国驾照才能在中国开车。

Kelsch took the English version of the test, but it didn't help much. After he flunked the firsttime, "I went out and complained," Kelsch recalled. "I said, 'There's something wrong with thattest. I'm sure I got all of them right.' "

凯尔什参加了英语版考试，但情况并不容乐观。他回忆说，第一次考砸了后，“我一出来就叫苦不迭，试题毛病太多了，我敢打赌自己答的是正确的。

A traffic bureau official assured him he had not, but allowed him to take the test again on thespot. Kelsch, 46, failed again. Then he studied and took it a third and even a fourth time。

交通局某个领导向他保证他答得并不正确，但允许他当场再考一次。结果，46岁的凯尔什又没能及格。然后他好好学习了一下，又考了第三次、第四次。

"And I actually did worse," Kelsch said, laughing in disbelief. "So, at that point I decided, 'OK,I'm giving up on this.' "

“结果竟然是越考越差，凯尔什难以置信地笑道，“所以，那一刻我决定就此放弃。

Sometimes, Chinese people struggle with the test as well. When authorities added newquestions early last year, failure rates initially soared. In the southern coastal city of Zhuhai,only 7 percent passed the new test, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper. Innearby Shenzhen, less than 4 percent passed。

有时候，中国人自己也考不好。去年相关部门增加了新的试题后，不及格率立马上去了。据《南方都市报》统计，在南部沿海城市珠海，只有7%的人通过新考试。而附近的深圳，只有4%通过。

Once they study, though, many Chinese find the written test as straightforward as foreignersfind it difficult。

当然，学习了以后，很多中国人仍会觉得考试很简单，正如老外觉得考试很难一样。

"For Chinese people, it's just another exam," says Wei Qi, a Chinese TV producer in Beijing,who aced the test on her first try. Wei says the format is easier for Chinese people, becausethey were raised in an education system that emphasizes memorization. That said, Wei doubtsthe written test produces better drivers。

“对中国人来说，这不过是一个考试罢了。魏琪(音)说道。她是北京的一位电视制片人，第一次考试就直接通过了。她认为考试形式对中国人而言比较简单，因为中国人就是在强调死记硬背的教育体系下成长起来的;不过，她也怀疑这种笔试能否培养出素质良好的驾驶员。

"Because the test is so complicated, it kind of undermines the purpose," she says. "I kind offorgot everything. If you asked a question now about a traffic rule, I still couldn't quite answeryou."

“因为试题很复杂，反倒有点适得其反，她说，“我都快全忘了。如果你现在问我某条交通规则，我还是答不上来。

Wei thinks the behind-the-wheel driving test, which all Chinese must take and involves parkingwhile avoiding laser motion detectors, is much harder。

魏琪觉得随后的路考更难，因为所有人都得参加，不仅要停好车，还得避开激光探测器。

Where There's Pay, There's A Way

道高一尺魔高一丈

While most foreigners dread taking the written exam, Virgil Adams, a financial manager incoastal Jiangsu province, knew he would pass the first time。

当大部分老外还在惧怕参加笔试的时候，江苏省的一位财务经理维吉尔-亚当斯却胸有成竹，确信自己一次就能通过。

"I didn't study," he says. "I didn't do anything." He didn't have to, because he had hired aChinese agent to fix the results。

“我没去学习，啥都没准备。他说。之所以没必要，是因为他请了一个中国代理帮忙。

A man maneuvers a car during an electronic driving test at a driving school in Beijing in 2011.The road test for a Chinese driver's license requires the applicant to park while avoiding lasermotion detectors。

2011年，他在北京一所驾校参加了电子驾驶测试。要想考取中国驾照，申请人在路考时得成功避开激光探测器并停好车。

At the testing center, Adams sat down at the computer and went through the questions. Afterhe finished, per his agent's instructions, he got up and walked out without submitting hisanswers。

在考试中心，亚当斯坐在电脑面前浏览试题，答完题后，通过代理的说明，他没有提交答案就径直站起来走了出去。

"My best guess is that probably my agent walked in, sat down at my seat, reviewed my answersand corrected any wrong ones," he says. Adams says the whole thing cost about $150.

“我猜当时我的代理进来后坐在了我的位置，浏览并纠正了我做错的题目。他说。亚当斯透露，这事儿总共花了150美元。

Paying people to take your driver's test is common in smaller cities here. Authorities in Shanghaitry to prevent it by putting cameras next to every computer. One of my Chinese friends gotaround that in western China, though, by aiming the camera at his face while a paid test-takertyped the correct answers on the computer just out of view。

花钱请人代考在小城市很常见。上海相关部门试图杜绝这种现象，在每台电脑旁边安装了摄像头。但是，我的一个中国西部朋友想到了一个办法：考生本人的脸对准摄像头，然后代考人在摄像头范围之外输入答案即可。

All that fraud may help explain why — as recently as 2011 — China had a nearly comparablenumber of drivers as the U.S., but almost twice as many traffic deaths。

这种舞弊现象恰好解释了为什么在2011年，中国的开车族数量和美国相当，但交通死亡人数却是美国的两倍。

As for me, I continued to take the test — and fail. After I flunked the third time, withoutimproving my score, I banged my head on the desk in the exam room and couldn't stoplaughing。

至于我本人嘛——继续屡考屡败呗。当第三次又没通过、分数丝毫没能提高时，我直接把头磕在了考场桌上，忍不住大笑起来。

The police officer proctoring the exam shook his head and scowled, suggesting I should take myserial failure more seriously。

监考人员绷着脸摇了摇头，提醒我应该更加认真地对待这次不及格。

On my fourth try after hours of study, I finally passed with a score of 93. Afterward, that samecop, with whom I'd become quite familiar, gave me a big grin and shook my hand。

学了几个小时后，我又考了第四次，终于以93分通过了。然后，还是那个监考人员(现在已经跟我很熟了)，给了我一个大大的微笑，还握了握我的手。