老外考中國駕照 連考四次才通過

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

最近，我決定申請中國駕照。因爲我在美國已經有駕照了，所以現在只要通過計算機裏有關交通規則的考試就行。我想這還不是輕而易舉麼！

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

買車和開車在中國已經相當普遍了。去年，中國新增了近1800萬開車族。申請駕照的人太多，我等了一個月纔有機會參加初試。

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

考試前一晚，我決定先在網上練習一下。考試共100題，從1000個題目中抽取而成，滿90分纔算通過。

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

我考了65分，不禁緊張起來。第二天去考場的路上，我用iPad又做了一遍，結果纔有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:

中國的駕駛考試怎麼這麼難啊？首先，你得死記硬背很多東西，然後選擇對錯，下面就是一道原汁原味的試題：

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

“如果機動車駕駛員違反交通規則並造成重大交通事故，因其潛逃而造成人員死亡，則駕駛員應判處3-7年徒刑。”

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

可答案竟然是“錯”！雖然我最後答對了，但還是沒搞懂究竟判刑幾年。

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

外國人考試難的另一個原因就是，有些翻譯真是太難琢磨了！請看下面這題：

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

“如果高速公路上出現臨時交通管制，駕駛員不必離開高速公路，而可以停在路邊等候交通管制結束後再繼續行駛。”

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

我根本看不懂題目是什麼意思，反正中國法律顯然不允許那樣做。

'There's Something Wrong With That Test'

“那個考試有點問題”

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

我不是唯一覺得題目難答的老外，其他人離開考場後也都覺得暈暈乎乎。

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

“根本就搞不懂題目在說什麼嘛。”來自智利的國際貿易商雨果-烏略亞說。他已經第二次沒通過了，我倆正好同病相憐。

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

2011年，他在中國東部山東省濟南市的一所駕校參加了上機測試。大部分中國人已經習慣了死記硬背式的教育體系，所以不會像老外那樣覺得考試很難。

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

“我已經學了兩天了，”烏略亞搖了搖頭說，“昨天晚上我熬了三個小時，結果還是沒通過，我都快絕望了。”

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

傑弗裏-凱爾什是個美國人，在上海經營一家市場調查公司。因爲想帶上愛犬西高地白梗“達西”駕車去郊外，去年他也申請了駕照。

Most foreigners here can't read Chinese and people appreciate that the government offers the test 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 in China。)

這裏大部分老外都不懂漢語，所以很慶幸政府提供了翻譯版測試。在上海，考試用語有英語、俄語、日語、韓語、意大利語、德語、法語、西班牙語和阿拉伯語，因爲外國人必須有中國駕照才能在中國開車。

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

凱爾什參加了英語版考試，但情況並不容樂觀。他回憶說，第一次考砸了後，“我一出來就叫苦不迭，試題毛病太多了，我敢打賭自己答的是正確的。”

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

交通局某個領導向他保證他答得並不正確，但允許他當場再考一次。結果，46歲的凱爾什又沒能及格。然後他好好學習了一下，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.' "

“結果竟然是越考越差，”凱爾什難以置信地笑道，“所以，那一刻我決定就此放棄。”

Sometimes, Chinese people struggle with the test as well. When authorities added new questions 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. In nearby Shenzhen, less than 4 percent passed。

有時候，中國人自己也考不好。去年相關部門增加了新的試題後，不及格率立馬上去了。據《南方都市報》統計，在南部沿海城市珠海，只有7%的人通過新考試。而附近的深圳，只有4%通過。

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

當然，學習了以後，很多中國人仍會覺得考試很簡單，正如老外覺得考試很難一樣。

"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, because they were raised in an education system that emphasizes memorization. That said, Wei doubts the written test produces better drivers。

“對中國人來說，這不過是一個考試罷了。”魏琪(音)說道。她是北京的一位電視製片人，第一次考試就直接通過了。她認爲考試形式對中國人而言比較簡單，因爲中國人就是在強調死記硬背的教育體系下成長起來的；不過，她也懷疑這種筆試能否培養出素質良好的駕駛員。

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

“因爲試題很複雜，反倒有點適得其反，”她說，“我都快全忘了。如果你現在問我某條交通規則，我還是答不上來。”

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

魏琪覺得隨後的路考更難，因爲所有人都得參加，不僅要停好車，還得避開激光探測器。

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 in coastal Jiangsu province, knew he would pass the first time。

當大部分老外還在懼怕參加筆試的時候，江蘇省的一位財務經理維吉爾-亞當斯卻胸有成竹，確信自己一次就能通過。

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

“我沒去學習，啥都沒準備。”他說。之所以沒必要，是因爲他請了一箇中國代理幫忙。

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 laser motion detectors。

2011年，他在北京一所駕校參加了電子駕駛測試。要想考取中國駕照，申請人在路考時得成功避開激光探測器並停好車。

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

在考試中心，亞當斯坐在電腦面前瀏覽試題，答完題後，通過代理的說明，他沒有提交答案就徑直站起來走了出去。

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

“我猜當時我的代理進來後坐在了我的位置，瀏覽並糾正了我做錯的題目。”他說。亞當斯透露，這事兒總共花了150美元。

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

花錢請人代考在小城市很常見。上海相關部門試圖杜絕這種現象，在每臺電腦旁邊安裝了攝像頭。但是，我的一箇中國西部朋友想到了一個辦法：考生本人的臉對準攝像頭，然後代考人在攝像頭範圍之外輸入答案即可。

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

這種舞弊現象恰好解釋了爲什麼在2011年，中國的開車族數量和美國相當，但交通死亡人數卻是美國的兩倍。

As for me, I continued to take the test — and fail. After I flunked the third time, without improving my score, I banged my head on the desk in the exam room and couldn't stop laughing。

至於我本人嘛——繼續屢考屢敗唄。當第三次又沒通過、分數絲毫沒能提高時，我直接把頭磕在了考場桌上，忍不住大笑起來。

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

監考人員繃着臉搖了搖頭，提醒我應該更加認真地對待這次不及格。

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

學了幾個小時後，我又考了第四次，終於以93分通過了。然後，還是那個監考人員(現在已經跟我很熟了)，給了我一個大大的微笑，還握了握我的手。