Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations.
Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend.
The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion.
Photo: CNA
Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based on a given passage, Sinjhuang Junior High teacher Lina Tseng (曾麗娜) said.
The passage quoted a man named Josh as saying: “Why are they trolling me like this?” while providing context clues suggesting he was criticized online for sharing his opinions about a television show.
The dictionary has many definitions for “troll,” although students who play video games are likely familiar with its usage as a mythological cave-dwelling creature, Tseng said.
Yet it can also refer to fishing, pulling or — as it is commonly used these days — as the verb for antagonizing others online, she said.
All four possible answers on the exam were real definitions for “troll,” making it necessary to read the passage, she said, adding that there were enough clues such as the word “screen” suggesting a computer to make it easy for students to answer.
Overall, teachers said the most difficult questions on this year’s English portion concerned an article on current events in Cameroon — with students being asked to ascertain the author’s attitude and select the definition of “resentful” — and a full-page infographic on sugar consumption.
However, they said they were still confident that “students’ hard work would pay off.”
Test designers responded to concerns that the test was too abstract and asked more basic questions that pertain to students’ lives, Tseng said.
The listening portion was also more grounded in daily life, giving context to conversations and public announcements through sound effects, she said.
For example, recordings included the sound of a customer entering a store, someone tapping a microphone before making an announcement, Christmas music and a motorbike, she said.
Actors also spoke slower than in previous editions and each recording was played twice, she added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS