As a ninth-grader, Shanghai’s Li Sixin spent more than three hours on homework a night and took tutorials in math, physics and chemistry on the weekends. When she was tapped to take an exam in 2012 given to half a million students around the world, Li breezed through it.
“I felt the test was just easy, “ said Li, who was a student at Shanghai Wenlai Middle School at the time and now attends high school. “The science part was harder... but I can handle that.”
Those long hours focused on schoolwork — and a heavy emphasis on test-taking skills — help explain why young students like Li in China’s financial hub once again dominated an international test to 15-year-olds called the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Photo: AFP
照片：法新社
Students from Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan — all from Asia — were right behind.
(Liberty Times)
身為九年級學生，上海的李思欣（譯音）晚上花超過三小時做功課，週末還要上數學、物理與化學的家教班。當她二０一二年獲選參加一項全球有五十萬名學子應考的考試時，李思欣輕鬆過關。
「我覺得那考試很簡單，」當時是上海文來中學學生、如今已上高中的李思欣說。「科學部份比較難…但我還應付得來。」
花長時間做功課，以及重視應考技能，有助於解釋何以像身在中國金融重鎮的李思欣這樣的年輕學子，再一次稱霸一項讓十五歲學生參與的國際性考試「國際學生能力評量計畫」（PISA）。
來自香港、新加坡、台灣、南韓與日本—全都是亞洲國家—的學生緊追在後。
（自由時報／翻譯：張沛元）
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Continued from yesterday（延續自昨日） https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang Using a device to isolate a section of the seafloor, the researchers aimed to measure oxygen levels in the enclosed water. Normally, oxygen rates would decrease as marine organisms consume it, but the result was contrary to expectations. The unexpected outcome prompted the team to further investigate the phenomenon. Researchers found the lumps emitted an electric charge similar to that of a AA battery. This charge is believed to trigger a process that splits seawater into hydrogen and oxygen, accounting for the increase. Traditional perspectives propose that oxygen production began around three billion years ago through photosynthesis by ancient
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