阅读理解。
Electronic monitoring devices, mobile phone detectors and giant screens connected to
close-circuit TV cameras. Does it sound like a high security operation? Well, the National
College Entrance Examination (NCEE) in China is nothing less than that.
The education authorities' efforts to prevent cheating at the exam have gone almost
unnoticed. The authorities launched the country's new monitoring system for the all-
important exam yesterday. The system is based on local schools' networks and is connected
to provincial headquarters, especially set up for the exam. The government has plans to
cover all the 31 provinces and regions in the next three years and offer the services for
other national exams, too.
The records of students caught cheating during national tests, such as the college
entrance exam, would be stored in the system and made available online for higher
educational institutions' and future employers' reference.
But despite all these measures, cheating remains a big temptation for some candidates.
The number of students caught cheating in last year's NCEE was 3,000, up from 1,300 in
2005. But this is hardly surprising because passing the NCEE is the only way most of the
students can get access to higher education.
10.1 million students registered for this year's NCEE, 9.6 million taking the exam,
but only 5.67 million would enter college. Among the successful candidates will be about
500,000 with special merits who will be admitted to universities directly, which means
roughly 13 in every 24 candidates can actually enter college. That should explain why
some students are tempted to cheat during the exam.
Cheating in such a well-monitored exam is not an easy thing to do, says an MOE
official, and it's very risky business too. The chance of a student getting away with
cheating is minuscule. And if caught, he/she risks ruining his/her entire career because
higher educational institutions and potential employers can always check his/her record.
1. The passage is most probably taken from _____. [ ]
A. a politics textbook.
B. a fashion report.
C. a reference book.
D. a newspaper.
2. According to the passage, what will happen if a student is caught cheating in the NCEE? [ ]
A. He/She will lose the chance to sit for more exams.
B. His/Her behavior will be recorded, stored and made available online.
C. He/She will get no records and lose the opportunity to go to college.
D. He/She will be blamed and his/her career and life will be put an end to.
3. The underlined word"minuscule" in the last paragraph probably means _____. [ ]
A. tiny
B. impossible
C. difficult
D. incredible
4. We can draw a conclusion from the passage that _____. [ ]
A. the education authorities are making great efforts to prevent cheating in exams
B. although it is very hard to succeed, many students take a chance to cheat in exams
C. honesty is still the best policy when it comes to exams
D. it is not easy to get access to higher education in China
