参加美国SAT考试会被洗脑吗?

Although the Chinese state news media has cited concerns recently that the United States is indoctrinating Chinese students by including its founding documents upholding freedom and human rights in the SAT, teachers and parents don't seem to be too alarmed.

中国媒体报道了对于美国利用在SAT考试中加入其主张自由和人权的建国纲领性文件来向中国学生灌输思想的担忧，但老师和家长却对此不以为意。

As American universities become a popular choice among affluent Chinese who want their children to receive top-quality higher education, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students are taking the SAT college admission test every year. Last year, nearly 200,000 Chinese students went to universities in the United States, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

随着美国大学成为想让子女接受一流高等教育的中国有钱人的热门选择，每年有数万名中国学生参加SAT大学入学考试。据新华社报道，去年有近20万中国学生考入了美国大学。

The growing number of young Chinese who are eager to attend American universities has spawned a large number of companies vowing to help students ace the test, forming a lucrative industry for SAT test preparation across the country.

渴望就读美国大学的年轻中国学生族群的不断扩大催生了一大批誓言帮助这些学生在SAT考试中拿高分的公司。这些公司形成了一个利润丰厚、遍布全国的SAT备考产业。

An English-language newspaper in Hong Kong, The South China Morning Post, published a column last month by Kelly Yang, a local SAT tutor, who asserted that the SAT redesign scheduled for 2016 would be "the first time America is able to systematically shape the views, beliefs and ideologies of hundreds of thousands of Chinese students."

香港英文报纸《南华早报》上月发表了一篇当地SAT辅导教师杨諹(Kelly Yang)的专栏文章。杨諹在文中断言，SAT计划在2016年实行的改革将使“美国首次能够系统地塑造成千上万中国学生的观点、信仰和意识形态”。

The Beijing Youth Daily reported recently that some Chinese were worried that the minds of the country's young would be "forcibly infiltrated with American values." The report, which was distributed by Xinhua, was paired with a cartoon of Uncle Sam holding a hamburger and a movie reel on one side while, with another hand, thrusting forward a piece of paper that says, "SAT ideology and politics."

《北京青年报》近期报道称，有些中国人担心他们国家青年的头脑中会被这个考试“强行植入美国价值观”。该报道被新华社转载。报道还配以一个卡通插画，画中的“山姆大叔”一手拿着一个汉堡和一个电影卷轴，另一手向前举着一张写着“SAT思想政治”的纸张。

The College Board, the organization that administers the SAT, in March announced a broad SAT overhaul that will be implemented in 2016 in response to criticisms in the United States. Among the changes is a new evidence-based reading and writing section, which will contain a passage from one of America's founding documents — including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers — or from a text inspired by the documents, like the Gettysburg Address.

负责管理SAT考试的美国大学委员会三月宣布将在2016年对SAT实行一场大规模改革，以回应美国国内对这个考试的种种批评。变革中的一个，就是会新设一个叫做“以证据为基础的阅读和写作”的部分。这个部分将包含从美国建国纲领性文件中节选的一段内容——文件包括《独立宣言》、《美利坚合众国宪法》、《权利法案》及《联邦党人文集》——或是从受这些文件启发而产生的文本——如《葛底斯堡演说》——中节选的一段内容。

Despite the state media criticism of the overhaul, some teachers and parents say they believe that studying the American documents can better prepare Chinese students for life abroad.

尽管国家媒体对这个改革颇有微词，一些老师和家长说他们相信学习这些美国文件能帮助中国学生更好的应对出国以后的生活。

"This has already been a highly diversified society," said Ju Jinrong, an SAT tutor at New Oriental, a large, private education company in China. "Young people get exposed to such Western values all the time through the Internet and Hollywood movies. It's not that they can only come to know the values through SAT," she said.

“这已经是一个高度多元化的社会了，”新东方SAT辅导教师琚晋荣说。新东方是中国一个大型私有教育公司。“年轻人随时都可以从网上、从好莱坞电影里接触到这些西方价值观。不是说他们考SAT才能接触到这些价值观。”

Ms. Ju says she doubts that the United States is intentionally exporting its ideologies through the test, which is the same for Americans and students from other countries.

琚晋荣说，她不认为美国是有意借此考试输出意识形态——SAT考试对美国和外国学生采用统一内容。

"The majority taking the SAT are still American students. If America wants to export its ideology, why don't they redesign TOEFL?" she asked, referring to the Test of English as a Foreign Language, which all students from non-English-speaking countries must take to apply to universities in the United States.

“大多数考SAT的还是美国学生。如果美国要输出意识形态的话，它为什么不改托福呢？”她问道。托福(TOEFL)是所有非英语国家学生要申请美国大学都必考的语言能力考试。

Mr. Yu, who gave only his surname, is the father of a Beijing student who is to take the SAT next year. He said he would not be concerned even if his son were to take the test in 2016 and believes it is good for his son to understand different political systems.

于先生是一名明年将考SAT的北京学生的父亲。他只愿透露姓氏。他说就算他的儿子是要参加2016年的考试，他也不会担心，因为让儿子了解不同的政治制度是好事。

"Even if he doesn't learn such Western ideologies in the test, he will be exposed to them throughout the four years in college anyway," he said. "I don't think learning Western ideologies will completely change his mind. People of his generation are able to think independently and see merits in every system."

“就算他不在这个考试里学这些西方意识形态，他在那边大学四年也总会接触这些东西吧，”他说。“我不觉得学这些西方意识形态就能一下完全改变他的想法了。他这一代人已经能够独立思考了。他应该能看到每种制度都有它的好处。”

Li Zhou, who is in charge of the elite Beijing No.4 High School's special program for students seeking to apply to American universities, believes that studying such historical documents before students leave for the United States will serve them well.

李周在名校北京四中负责学校为准备申请美国大学的学生特别组建的出国班。他认为学生在赴美前学习这些历史文件对他们有好处。

"Only through studying extensively can we develop critical thinking," he said.

“多学习才能培养批判性思维，”他说。

"Asking students to read those documents and learn world history is in no way brainwashing. Nothing to fear," Mr. Li said. "Only Chinese think education means brainwashing."

“让学生去学这些文件、学习世界历史绝对不是洗脑。没什么可怕的，”李周说。“只有中国人觉得教育是洗脑。”

He said the redesign was a "positive change" because it "forces" Chinese students to understand American society beforehand.

他说SAT的改革是一个“积极的改变”，因为它“逼着”学生在去美国之前了解美国社会。

Dong Yuxiu, an SAT tutor at FocusEdu, which specializes in SAT test preparation, agrees.

时代焦点教育SAT辅导教师董玉秀表示同意。时代焦点教育主攻SAT备考辅导业务。

"Understanding how American history and politics has developed will definitely help students better adjust to the new environment and integrate into American society," she said.

“去了解美国的历史和政治是如何发展的肯定对学生适应新环境、融入美国社会有帮助，”她说。

Ms. Dong believes the redesign will not put Chinese students at a severe disadvantage so long as they have overcome the language barrier. She said SAT preparation companies could also easily cope with the change by providing students with more reading material about American history and politics.

董玉秀认为，只要学生英语能力过硬，SAT的改革不会使中国学生处于严重劣势。她说SAT备考机构也可以通过多给学生提供一些与美国史政相关的阅读材料来从容应对改革。

"I think as long as a student has strong English, plus a little bit of common sense, she should be able to cope," she said, adding that her company will start to tweak its curriculum in 2015 for the new test.

“我觉得只要学生英语好，加上有一点常识，考试应该没什么问题，”她说。她补充说她的公司将从2015年开始修改教学大纲应对新SAT。

A 16-year-old student at a prestigious Beijing high school agreed. She will take the test in 2016 and says she is not troubled by the redesign. She asked not to be named.

一名在一所北京知名高中就读的16岁学生表示同意。她将在2016年参加SAT考试，并说她不为考试改革感到特别忧心。她要求不在报道中具名。

"Of course it will be harder for us Chinese students because we never studied the documents before, but we can from now on read more about American history and politics to get fully prepared," she said.

“考试难度对我们中国学生来说肯定是加大了，因为我们没学过这些文件。但是我们可以从现在开始多读一些关于美国历史、政治的东西来做好准备，”她说。

Asked whether she realized she would be studying ideologies drastically different from the ones she has been instilled with, she said: "There is no way to skirt the political stuff. It will be part of our life sooner or later."

当被问及她是否意识到她将会学习与她被灌输的意识形态截然不同的意识形态时，她说：“政治的东西肯定是绕不过的。它迟早都会是我们生活的一部分。”