- Write a composition on the subtle
philosophy of the round and-
No.
(mellow percussion music)
- [Narrator] The gaokao is China's intense
two-day college entrance exam.
Students' marks on the exam are said to determine
their entire future life opportunities
and earning potential in China.
With the belief that those who Excel on the test
will have the best careers and even marriage prospects.
College entrance is especially competitive in China,
where the top universities only select
as few as 1 in 50,000 students.
- Wow!
That's pretty low.
That's like 0.002%?
- [Narrator] The test is so important
that factories and buildings
will shut down while the exam is underway
as police cars patrol to keep streets quiet.
Ambulances are placed outside exam facilities
in case of nervous collapses.
The multiple choice questions are notoriously hard
with questions such as...
- Last October,
President Xi Jinping said that
while art is based on imagination,
- It should still be down-to-earth.
- There may be hundreds of ways to create art,
the best way, however,
is to trace back to the people's daily lives
and create something based off that.
- From a materialism point of view, this is because
One, art originates from the daily lives of people.
Two, art depends on innovation.
Three, the way art reflects on society
and its style is unified.
Four, art is a form of ideology that reflects people's lives
while at the same time serving the people.
- God, this is confusing.
- I don't-
I have no idea.
- It's like kind of a logic question,
but it's also a grammar question
and it's also related to current events and politics?
- Just reading this gives me anxiety
so I can understand why people have ambulances outside.
- I don't know.
I'm gonna say A.
- I'm gonna go B,
one and four.
- D.
- [Man] You're correct!
(bell ding)
- Heck yeah!
- But literally, it's saying the same thing.
- [Narrator] The gaokao has been seen as symbolic
of the Chinese education system as a whole,
and both the exam and the system itself
have been criticized for putting
impossible pressures on teens.
Outbreaks of suicides accompany every exam season.
- Wow.
- If your whole life depends on this exam,
that's so much pressure for one person to handle,
especially if you're still growing as an adult.
- I mean if this one test determines
what happens in your life,
that is really intense.
- [Narrator] The exam also includes a number of essays
with prompts than can be notoriously obtuse,
such as...
- Do butterfly wings have colors?
- Hold up.
- Why is this an essay question?
Who do you admire the most?
A biotechnology researcher,
- A welding engineer technician,
- Or a photographer.?
What the heck?
That's just a personality question.
- I'm so stressed.
- [Narrator] Cheating has been a rampant problem,
including the use of spy cameras
and radio devices to transmit questions and answers.
Those who are caught cheating
may spend up to seven years in prison.
To try to prevent students from pursuing their
increasingly creative methods of cheating,
drones have been used as hall monitors.
- Whoa!
- Drones!
- People are cheating so much
that they have drones in charge?
- This reminds me of Minority Report,
like robots are surveillance.
- The containers for milk are always square boxes.
Containers for mineral water are always round bottles.
- Round wine bottles are usually placed in square boxes.
- Write a composition on the subtle philosophy
of the round and square.
Oh my God,
what?
These are so broad!
What do you even say here?
- I think just humanity has gotten
way too obsessed with tests.
There are other ways to evaluate people.
- Compared to what we have here in America,
we're pretty, pretty lucky.
- It just seems like if
you're putting so much pressure on a young kid,
about a standardized test,
something's not right.
- I hope they relax their systems at some point because
I can't imagine even going through that.
- [Male Interviewee] I'm just thinking more about
what is the sole philosophy of the round and square?
(lighthearted music)